


Derek Hale Has No Heart

by WinglessFlutters



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Animal Transformation, Beauty and the Beast AU, Dog Derek, Fairy Tale Retellings, M/M, a little violence in chapter four, fairy tale AU, sterek au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-11
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 08:29:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1933980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinglessFlutters/pseuds/WinglessFlutters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek doesn't have anything or anyone to give a shit about. Only the ambition to become a powerful Alpha. But when a witch casts a life-altering spell on the loner, he's turned into a mangy dog with only a year to change his heart. Derek begins to accept his fate, however, an accident lands him a place in the Stilinski house, where he has to put up with the most intolerable, annoying, adorable son-of-a-sheriff he's ever met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

September, 1. 11PM.

The witch could hear him coming. She hastily put her ingredients and bottles in her bag. The campfire made it impossible to see what was going on behind the trees, but the sound of crunching leaves was getting louder. She threw the bag over her shoulder and dumped a bucket of dirt over the fire. She turned around to run, but she wouldn’t be able to take two steps before running into her pursuer. Her eyes widened. _Werewolf_ , she thought, _Should’ve known._

“I’m here for a potion.” He said.

“And how much do you expect to pay for it?” The witch, Elaina, said as she slowly backed away from him.

“Thirty.”

Elaina scoffed. “Good luck finding someone who will do it for so cheap.”

He took a step toward her for each step that she took back. “Ok, then. Thirty and I won’t turn you over to hunters.”

She just stared at him a moment, considering her options, wishing she could punch the smug smile off his face. But she didn’t stand a chance.

She looked down and twirled her black hair between her fingers. “What do you need?”

“Strength. And power. Enough to become the greatest Alpha on the West Coast.”

“I don’t have the ingredients for that. You need a spell.”

“Whatever.”

Elaina took a book out of her bag and began flipping through it to find the spell. As she thumbed through the index, she spotted a different spell that gave her an idea.

“Found it yet?” He asked.

“Yes. And before I start, there’s something you need to know.”

Derek quirked an eyebrow.

She took a deep breath. “You’re a dick. And you don’t deserve this power.”

“Thanks for the input--”

“I wasn’t finished.” She said sternly, “I know about you, Derek Hale. You’re cold-hearted, arrogant. No friends, no family.”

Derek snarled and moved toward her, but she raised her hand and used her powers to hold him back. The wind began to howl and thundering clouds rolled in at incredible speed.

“You have no love.” She almost had to shout to be heard over the wind. For a second it sounded like she pitied him. “And unless you find it within a year, you’ll be stuck like this forever.”

“What do you mean?!” Derek demanded.

She began speaking in an ancient language Derek didn’t understand and everything around him became shrouded in smoke.

When the air cleared, Elaina was gone. And he didn’t remember everything seeming so tall. Something wasn’t right.

He found the bucket that was once full of dirt, but he couldn’t find his reflection. Only a scruffy, black dog staring back at him.

~

May, 29. 5PM.

From September to January, Derek was angry. Angry at the witch. Angry that he wasn’t even a wolf, but a mangy dog. Angry that he’d never get to drive his car again. Or go to the movies. Or do anything else human. But after a while, he wasn’t sure if a life away from people was a curse or a blessing. Everything was so peaceful. And there was no one to miss him anyway.

He spent most of his time in the woods, hunting small animals to eat (and sometimes just for kicks because being in the forest by yourself can get boring). But every once in a while he went into town. Just to be around things that weren’t trees, and to find something to eat in garbage cans. He wasn’t the kind of dog who got fed scraps or petted by small children. He was big, scruffy, and a bit dirty. He was the kind of dog who had to keep an eye out for animal control.

On this day, Derek was walking through the downtown area when he heard a familiar melody coming from the bar that he was approaching.

_There’s no saving anything_

_Now we’re swallowing the shine of the summer…_

Derek used to love this song. And it had been so long since he’d heard music. He decided to lay down by the door and listen for a while. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the lyrics.

_What makes you think I’m enjoying being led to the flood?_

_We’ve got another thing coming undone…_

As the words came to him, he thought of the music he liked, which cd’s he had in his loft. He thought of his loft. His books, his furniture, his leather jacket, the smell of shampoo, food that wasn’t a woodland creature or covered in garbage. He missed it.

And for the first time in months, he started to cry. The high-pitched sound of his whine made passersby stare. And the more they stared, the worse he felt. So he got up and left town.

He sulked and wandered aimlessly through the woods for a bit, until a familiar scent made him stop in his tracks.

**_But… That’s not possible. I’m just imagining things._ **

Regardless, he still felt like he’d smelled a ghost. And when a loud roar tore through the forest, it spooked him enough to run. He barreled through bushes and darted around trees until his paws hit pavement, and then came the loud screech of rubber against asphalt.

~

The next morning, Derek woke up in a vet’s office. He looked over himself and saw a weird metal thing attached to his right hind leg, which was now shaven. He also had a some kind of doggy wheelchair. Which was certainly a cause for concern. Was this permanent?

Derek continued looking around. There was a blanket wadded up on a nearby chair. The vet must’ve stayed with Derek through the night. But of course he did. He couldn’t leave a stray dog alone in the office all night. The walls were decorated with plaques and pictures and charts. Derek could smell the meds in the cabinets, but also other things. Things he's smelled before, but never in any ordinary doctor's office. It was the stuff the Druids used. 

If this guy wasn't a typical vet, maybe he could help Derek. But whether or not he _could_ wasn't even the first problem. Derek had no clue how he would communicate with him. Unless he could find enough alphabet magnets to spell out "I'm a werewolf who got turned into a dog by a witch, please help," there was probably no way he could talk to him. 

When the vet brought him some breakfast, he read his name tag. Dr. Deaton.

Deaton was a friendly man. And though he hadn’t said it, his smile was reassuring; he gave the impression that Derek would be ok. But Derek wasn’t sure how he should feel. He still remembered the night before very clearly, and it still weighed heavily on his mind.

**_First, the curse. And now this?_ **

If he was permanently disabled, he could end up living with some human. He couldn't stand the thought of a life like that- being talked down to, doing tricks for scraps of food, possibly getting his tail pulled by little kids. The list of degrading possibilities goes on, and Derek just had to push it out of his mind.  If that was his fate, he almost wished the car accident had ended it.

 

That afternoon a teenage boy walked in. Derek’s head shot up when he caught his scent.

**_A wolf._ **

“What’s gonna happen to him?” Deaton’s assistant (Derek overheard Deaton call him Scott) asked later that afternoon.

“He has no collar or chip. We’ll have to call a shelter.” Deaton said.

_**Shit.** _

While Deaton made the call, Scott approached Derek and started gently petting him. It had been a long time since Derek had been near another wolf. Aside from last night, which wasn’t real. It couldn’t have been. Scott was different from most werewolves Derek had encountered in recent years. He was disarming. Gentle. Kind.

Deaton hung up with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Scott asked.

“It’s the busy season. The shelter said they can’t take anymore dogs in for a while.” Deaton said.

“I’ll ask around at school, see if anyone wants him.” Scott said.

A few hours later, the bell on the front door jingled and another young man walked in.

“Scott. You ready to go?” he asked.

“Almost. We’re trying to figure out what to do with this dog.”

“What’s up with him?”

“We need someone to take him in, at least until we can take him to the shelter.” Deaton said.

Derek suddenly noticed the kid’s scent. He smelled like trees, burnt wood, and… **_Home_**. Derek made his way to the boy to investigate. He wanted to know what the hell this kid had been doing at the Hale house. He wagged his tail and sniffed the boy as much as possible, even letting the kid pet him. Maybe if the boy thought he liked him, he’d volunteer to take him home and Derek could find out more.

“I think he’s got his heart set on Stiles.” Scott smiled.

**_Stiles? What kind of name is that?_ **

“You think? ...Yeah, sure.” Stiles shrugged, “Dad won’t mind. Actually, he’ll probably get really attached to him after five minutes and want to adopt him.”

“Really? Your dad?” Scott said in disbelief.

“Yeah, totally. ...After a little negotiation.”

“Well, keep him as long as you like, and just give me a call when your dad decides what to do.” Deaton said.

Stiles nodded. “So what do I need to know about him. Like, medically?”

“He has a fractured pelvis, but his hip joints are intact and the muscles and tendons will act as a cast, so the pelvis will heal itself. He should only need the wheelchair for a few weeks. He’s got fractured ribs that will also heal on their own. And in about two months, his tibia will be healed and we can take off the external skeletal fixator.” Deaton said.

“Sounds like he’ll need one hell of a painkiller.” Stiles said.

“Speaking of…” Deaton turned around and wrote a prescription and got a bottle of meds, which he handed to Stiles.

“Thanks. I’ll take good care of him.” Stiles said.

A few minutes later, Scott, Stiles, and Derek were on the road in Stiles’ Jeep. Derek had the back seat all to himself, (save for some lacrosse equipment and a backpack) so he laid his head down and closed his eyes.

“So why were you late picking me up?” Scott asked.

“Oh. I was at the Hale house.”

Derek’s ears perked up.

“Why?”

“Just curious. I thought any place that creepy has to be haunted.” Stiles said.

**_Well, that mystery got solved sooner than expected. Dumb kid._ **

“And were you right?”

“Sadly, no.”

Scott’s eyebrows shot up. “Sadly?”

“Dude. I am **so. bored.** There’s nothing going on. Nothing...werewolfy.”

Scott chuckled, “Well, sorry. _I’ve_ been enjoying the peace and quiet. And at least you have a dog now. That should keep you entertained.”

“Yeah, well, if dad lets me keep him.”

It was all mindless chatter from there. Derek tuned it out.

~

Stiles guided Derek, who was still getting used to his wheelchair, through the front door and into the living room, where Stiles’ dad was.

“No.” He said as soon as he saw the dog.

“Dad, he has nowhere to stay. Can we at least keep him until he’s healed?”

“And how long will that take?” Mr.-- apparently, Sheriff Stilinski asked.

“About two months.” Stiles scrunched his face like he was waiting for his dad to explode.

“Stiles!”

“Please, dad! We used to talk about getting a dog and my grades are really good this semester.”

There was a moment of silence. Stiles knelt by Derek. “And you wouldn’t send an injured puppy to the pound, would you?” he said, sticking his bottom lip out.

Mr. Stilinski sighed. “Fine.”

Stiles stood up. “Thanks, dad.” He grinned. Then he ran off to get a bowl of water and set up a place for Derek to sleep.

~

Stiles never pictured having a dog like this. He always thought he’d get a dog that was just as hyper as him. Like one of those terriers who jumps all the time. But that’s not what happened. He wasn’t disappointed with this dog. But it was...weird. Like, on one hand, he had no personality. He just laid around and didn’t seem to want to do much of anything. Like a grumpy old man. Though, Stiles figured that part of that was because of the injury. And on the other hand, there was something about the dog that made Stiles feel like he was sharing a room with a human. Something in his eyes. Stiles had no proof, but this dog seemed smart.

Meanwhile, Derek felt like he’d been cursed. Again.

 _One time_ he missed the human world, and now he was stuck with this obnoxious kid for two months. This obnoxious kid who paced around his room to no end. This annoying kid who insisted upon calling him Professor Xavier. This kid who has probably set world records for frequent masturbation. Who constantly cracked jokes about blaming him for eating his homework. Who wouldn’t just _leave him alone_ for five seconds.

The hours that Stiles spent at his summer job were precious to Derek.

But June 28 finally brought Derek some happiness. That was the day when Deaton gave him a check-up and took off the wheels. Derek actually wagged his tail with legitimate joy.

**_One step closer to freedom._**

That afternoon, for the first time since they’d met, Derek actually let Stiles play with him. To an extent. Derek still couldn’t really run because of the fixator on his leg. But he quickly learned how to pick up speed while hobbling. And he refused to fetch balls because _that_ would be degrading. But they had a blast running through the back yard.

“Maybe you just don’t like balls. Maybe you’re more of a frisbee guy.” Stiles said, picking up his frisbee to throw it.

Derek took it from Stiles’ hand and made him chase him for it.

_**Come and get it, lacrosse boy.** _

Not Derek's best line, but at least the kid couldn't hear it.

“You little shit!” Stiles laughed as he ran after him.

Stiles caught up to him and got on the ground to wrestle him for it. When Derek quit jerking his head and finally let Stiles have the frisbee, he laid down next to him, his tail thumping the ground.

Stiles laid back and put his hands behind his head. “I’m so glad you’re getting better, dude.” Stiles said as he caught his breath, “You’re a lot cooler when you’re not a douche.”

_**Thanks, I guess?** _

 

~

July 3, 8PM

Derek was on the couch when Stiles turned on the tv and joined him. He reached over to pet Derek, but the dog dodged his hand.

“You’re really not a love-and-kisses kind of dog, are you?”

**_Not a chance, kid._ **

“Fine. I’m just gonna start calling you Mr. Grumpypants, then.”

_**Oh, god, please don’t.** _

__

A minute later, Stiles’ phone rang.

“Scotty.”

“Hey. You know your way around the Hale house, right?”

Derek raised his head.

“Yeah, I guess.” Stiles said, “Why?”

“I caught another wolf’s scent and followed it there. I wanna check it out.” Scott said.

_**Me too.** _

“Sure. When?”

“As soon as you can get here.”

“Be right over.” Stiles hung up. “See you later, boy.”

_**Think again.** _

Derek followed Stiles to the door.

“Sorry, dude. No walk tonight. Werewolf business.”

He tried to use his leg to keep Derek from going out the door, but it didn’t work. Derek shoved past him and quickly hobbled to the Jeep. Stiles caught up to him and reached for the dog’s collar, but Derek’s growls made him stop.

Stiles sighed. “Fine. But you’re staying in the Jeep.” He opened the door and helped Derek in.

“And no barking while we’re trying to sneak around.” Stiles said as he pulled out of the driveway.

 

~


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There may be something there that wasn't there before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys. Sorry this chapter is so late. Last week really got away from me (been busy with research).

 

As the Jeep pulled up to the Hale house, Derek caught many scents. But none so prominent as the one he thought he smelled in the forest five weeks ago.

**_Peter?_ **

It didn’t make any sense. But Derek knew that whatever was going on, it couldn’t be good. He hadn’t seen Scott in action, but he was sure he wouldn’t stand a chance against Peter. Stiles certainly didn’t. Hell, Derek wouldn’t stand a chance against Peter at this point.  

**_If they go in there, they could get us all killed._ **

Peter’s scent was strong, but not strong enough to indicate that he was inside the house at that moment. Just strong enough that he had to have been there recently. He was close. Probably hunting in the woods. But the situation was still dangerous. Derek started making whining sounds to discourage them. He fidgeted and pawed at the door facing away from the house, hoping to creep the kids out enough to drive away.

“Well, someone thinks this is a bad idea.” Stiles said as he and Scott watched the dog whine.

“All the more reason for me to check it out.”

Stiles turned his head to give Scott a look. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

“It’s our town, Stiles. We might be the only ones who can defend it if the wolf staying here is trouble.”

Scott got out of the car and Stiles reluctantly followed.

Derek growled. **_Idiots._**

He thought about barking or stepping on the Jeep’s horn. But he doubted it would help. It’d only give away their position.

“I’ll go this way.” Scott whispered, pointing to the left side of the house.

“Dude, we’re not splitting up. Think of every horror movie you’ve seen. When has splitting up ever been a good idea?”

Scott sighed “Ok. Let’s just hurry.”

They began circling the house and looking through windows to scope things out.

“What are you even going to do, though? What’s the mission here?” Stiles asked.

“I’m looking for anything that might tell us about who we’re dealing with. And I’m leaving behind my scent. Just so he knows there’s another wolf here.”

Stiles stopped. “So basically...you’re marking territory?”

“What? No. I’m just sending a message.” Scott said.

“And what’s that? ‘This is my town and I will pee on it if need be’?” Stiles snorted.

Scott shot him a look. “He’ll smell that we were here, but see that we didn’t do any harm. That should let him know that we’re interested in his being here, but we don’t want to pick a fight.” Scott shrugged.

“You’re totally improvising this whole thing, aren’t you?”

“Kinda.”

“Gotcha.” Stiles nodded as they continued their walk around the house.

They peered into the next window. Stiles could barely see anything, but he knew from his previous visit that it was the kitchen.

“Can your eyes see anything that mine can’t?”

“Yeah, but there’s still nothing down here. Maybe he stays upstairs.”

“Maybe. But if we go in, he’d probably see that as an invasion.”

Scott extended his claws. “Do you think scaling a wall is too invasive?”

The boys grinned at each other.

In the Jeep, Derek contemplated what could be going on. Given werewolves’ healing abilities, the idea of Peter recovering from the fire wasn’t that hard to imagine. But why stay in Beacon Hills? Why not contact Derek? Even if Derek had already been cursed by the time Peter healed, his scent was still the same. Peter still could’ve tracked him.

**_Why didn’t he try to find me?_ **

Maybe he did. Maybe that’s what he was doing in the woods the night of the car accident. If Derek hadn’t been so spooked and run away, maybe they would’ve been reunited and Derek wouldn’t be in this situation. But maybe that would’ve been worse. Peter was always up to something. And Derek had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right.

Scott was hanging on the side of the house looking into a bedroom window. Something about it made Stiles feel really vulnerable. He fidgeted and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“See anything?” He asked as he stared out at the darkness. Sometimes he thought he saw something amongst the trees, but it was just his imagination filling in the black spaces with boogeymen.

“Just a nest of blankets.” Scott said.

“Blankets wouldn’t have survived the fire. So he went shopping but only bought blankets?”

“I don’t know. They look like they’re from a hospital, though.”

A howl in the distance interrupted them and made Stiles jump.

“Shit!”

Scott jumped down. “Let’s go.”

They hurried to the car and got in. Stiles thought that had to be the closest he’d gotten to his dog looking happy to see him. Though Derek wasn’t really happy, just relieved. Stiles turned the key, but the Jeep wouldn’t start. He tried again. And again.

“I can smell him getting closer…” Scott said. His instincts were telling him they needed to get out asap.

Derek was back to fidgeting. He made a frustrated sound that started as a whine and ended as a huff.

“Scott, I swear, if I die a virgin because of you…”

“Just keep trying!” Scott was about to panic.

“I am!” Stiles shouted as he hit the dashboard. The Jeep started and Stiles stomped on the gas.

After a couple of minutes, the tension died down and they felt safe enough to go the speed limit.

“So I invited Allison over to your place tomorrow...”

“ _And_?” Stiles pressed.

“She said her family didn’t really make plans so it’ll be easier for her to get away for a couple of hours.” Scott smiled.

“Cool. It’ll be nice to have someone other than our parents to hang out with this time. Even if her father is a wolf-hunting gun salesman who would crash the party and shoot you if he finds out.” Stiles said.

“He won’t.” Scott chuckled.

**_A hunter’s daughter? Is this kid out of his mind?_ **

Derek almost wished he could talk to Scott. Warn him. But even if he could talk, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell him about his past and all the mistakes he made.

“But if he does come after me, I need you to cover for me while I hide. Just tell him my mom is only there to drop something off.” Scott said with wide yet serious eyes.

“Good idea.” Stiles nodded.

That night, Derek did nothing but curl up on the floor in Stiles’ room. He had a lot on his mind, and apparently it showed because Stiles crouched down next to him.

“What’s wrong, bud? Feeling betrayed ‘cause Scott’s dating the lady who ran you over?” he asked, petting Derek’s head.

Derek couldn’t even be bothered to get up and reject the petting.

“Well if it makes you feel any better, I’ll sneak you a couple of burgers tomorrow night.” Stiles said.

Derek couldn’t help but wag his tail a little. He normally had to steal or beg for people food. And even then he never got anything as good as a burger.

Stiles giggled. “Yeah, I thought so. Even you can’t be grumpy when it comes to beef.”

~

July 4, 8:30 PM

The sun hadn’t quite set yet, but soon it would be dark enough to start setting off the fireworks. The Sheriff manned the grill, and Derek watched. Closely. It wasn’t until John spoke to him that he realised he’d scooted right next to the grill and had been licking his lips.

“No.”

Derek whined. Over the weeks, he’d learned how to use his puppydog eyes. Though he would never admit to begging. It totally wasn’t begging. Just...persuasion.

“Fine.” John flipped a burger onto the ground in front of the dog. “Just don’t tell Stiles.” he whispered.

As he watched Derek eat the patty in about three bites, Scott’s mom sneaked up behind him. “Ok, I won’t.” she whispered.

John jumped, which made her giggle.

“Hi, Melissa.” he laughed.

Derek trotted off to see what the others were up to. He doubted it was anything interesting, but he always felt like he should give Melissa and John some alone time.

The boys were playing video games and talking about work and girls and bla bla bla. Derek nudged the chair so he could curl up under Stiles’ desk. He happened to see the webpage Stiles was reading earlier. Something about chemistry, but more advanced than anything he should have to study for school.

_**Smart kid. Smarter than you’d think anyway.** _

He turned away from the boys so he could tune them out and take a short nap.

Derek had been a dog for song long that he was even a dog in many of his dreams nowadays. Sometimes he was a dog who interacted with people as if he were still in human form. Sometimes he was a dog wandering the woods, which were typically his happier dreams. It was dreams of being human again that made Derek sad. They made him miss everything he used to take for granted: driving, showers, chocolate, being able to reach the top shelf. When he dreamt of his family, sometimes it was horrifying and sad, full of fire and loss and rage. Other times, like that evening, the dreams were happy. Truly and completely happy. Roughhousing in the back yard with his dad. His mom laughing as she watched them from her garden. Cora challenging him to a race to see who could climb a tree the fastest. Everything was in technicolor. It was vivid. Alive.  

A loud pop made Derek jolt awake from his sleep. As usual, being snapped back into reality after a dream like that left him feeling deflated. He got up and looked out the window. It had gotten dark, so he must’ve been asleep at least twenty minutes. There was another pop and the sky lit up green. Derek wouldn’t be able to sleep through the fireworks, and Stiles still owed him a burger, so he decided to go outside and join the others.

Stiles lit another firework while Scott theatrically bowed in front of Allison, presenting her with a sparkler as if it were a flower.

**_Cute._ **

Stiles grinned up at the blue explosion in the sky. His childlike enthusiasm was one thing Derek actually liked about him. If anyone could light up a room, it was Stiles. Of course he was still annoying as hell. Like, _just once_ Derek would like to listen to music without Stiles loudly singing along (if it could be called singing). But at least some of his cds were good.

Derek spotted John and Melissa sitting together. Their chairs were so close Derek almost thought it was some type of fold-up couch. John yawned and stretched. It was obvious that he was debating whether or not to put his arm around her.

_**Just get married already.** _

“Most dogs freak out when they hear fireworks. I’m surprised yours is so calm.” Allison said when she saw Derek.

“Yeah. Professor X is pretty chill.” Stiles said.

“You really should come up with a new name for him now that he’s out of the wheelchair.” Scott said.

“I would, but he’s used to Professor X now.”

**_No, I’m not._ **

When no one was paying attention, Allison knelt down by Derek. “Sorry for hitting you with my car. Can I win you over with the rest of my hot dog?” she whispered.

If anyone ever asked Derek if half of a hot dog was worth a fractured pelvis, fractured ribs, a broken tibia, and his life being completely disrupted for a minimum of two months, but possibly permanently, he’d say “fuck no.” But Allison wasn’t just anyone. She had a face you couldn’t stay mad at. No wonder Scott was risking his neck to date her. Those eyes could probably get her anything she wanted. So he accepted the hot dog and let her pet him.

Despite being sensitive to all the noise, it was a great night. It wasn’t too hot, he’d eaten more people food in the last hour than he had all week, and the light from the fireworks made Stiles’ skin glow and his eyes were practically sparkling-- _**Wait, what?**_

“I’m gonna drive Allison home.” Scott said to Stiles.

“Seriously? You’re gonna go right up to her house?” Stiles asked.

“Well, down the street from it.” Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Good thinking.” Allison said, wrapping her arms around Scott’s and kissing his cheek.

Scott and Allison were gone before Melissa even realised it.

“Now how am I gonna get home?” she asked herself, letting her arms drop to her sides.

“I can give you a ride. I need to go out to get something for tomorrow’s breakfast anyway.” John said.

“Yeah. I’ll shoot him a text so he knows not to come back for you.” Stiles said, getting his phone out.

“Thanks, guys.” Melissa smiled.

Stiles sent the text and helped John and Melissa finish cleaning up before they drove off.

“Just you and me now, bud.” Stiles said as he walked past Derek. He went to the kitchen and pulled a leftover hamburger patty out of the microwave.

“I didn’t forget.” He smiled as he gave it to Derek, “I know you’ve been eating beef and whatever is in hot dogs all night, but a deal is a deal.”

Stiles stood and tousled the fur on Derek’s head, then plopped on the couch to watch some tv.

~

July 8, 3AM

It was the noise that woke Derek up first. Then the smell of anxiety made him alert. He sat up and watched Stiles to see what was going on. Stiles kept moving around as he mumbled in his sleep. He reeked of sweat and pain and grief. Whatever he was dreaming, the kid was stressed.

Derek walked around to the other side of the bed to get closer to him. Stiles was unintelligible. The only word that Derek could understand was “mom.” And it kinda broke Derek’s heart. He didn’t know all the details of Mrs Stilinski’s death, but he didn’t have to. He couldn’t just watch Stiles suffer like this. He carefully put his front paws up on the bed, putting most of his weight on the bed and his uninjured back leg. He tried to nudge Stiles’ arm, but couldn’t get close enough, so he hopped up on the bed and tried again. He nudged the boy’s side until he woke up. When Stiles snapped out of it, he practically gasped for air like he hadn’t breathed all night.

“Hey, buddy.” he sniffled when he became aware of his surroundings.

The dog made a high-pitched sound of sympathy and let Stiles pet him.

_**Just this once.** _

Derek laid down and Stiles wrapped his arm around him.

“Sorry I woke you up. I just…” he couldn’t say anything more. Derek was facing the other way, but he knew that Stiles was crying.

_**It’s ok. I miss my mom too.** _

What started out as Only when he has nightmares eventually turned into routine. Partly because something was stressing Stiles out and causing him to have more nightmares every couple of nights. After a few nights of sleeping on Stiles’ bed, Derek started coming up with new excuses like **_My leg could use some cushioning_** or **_If sleeping with me comforts him after a nightmare, maybe I can prevent the nightmares by sleeping on the bed from the start…_**

But the fact was that Derek didn’t really care that much about preventing nightmares. He just really missed sleeping in beds. Before Stiles’ nightmares started, it had been months since Derek had used a pillow or curled up with a blanket. And if he had to eat dog food every day, he damn well deserved to sleep comfortably.

Yup. That was it. That was definitely his only reason for wanting to sleep in Stile’s bed.

**  
  
**

July 26, 5AM

Derek ran through the woods. He ran even though he choked on smoke and he ran even though he didn’t know where the screams were coming from. He just knew he had to stop the screaming. _Save_ them. The farther he ran, the thicker the smoke got, the louder the screaming. Derek called out to them, coughing between every name he yelled.

“Cora!” “Dad!” “Laura!”

His voice was so hoarse, and the air was so hot he thought he'd burn up too. Suddenly someone was cackling behind him. He turned around to see Elaina laughing her ass off. Mocking him.

“You don’t deserve it, Derek. That’s why they’re gone.” she said.

He had to stop it. The screaming, the cackling, it all had to stop. He lunged forward and the taste of skin and the sound of a yelp brought him back to reality.

Stiles held his hand and hissed in pain. Regret instantly washed over Derek and he began trying to ask for forgiveness the only way he knew how. He licked the injured hand and made begging sounds. Stiles wasn’t bleeding, but there would probably be a light bruise there for a day or so.

Stiles pet him and Derek nuzzled his face.

“It’s ok, buddy. It doesn’t hurt that bad.” Stiles said softly.

Plenty of other people would’ve punished a dog for biting them like that. They would’ve scolded him. Maybe even smacked him. At the very least Derek figured he should be kicked out of bed. But Stiles wasn’t like that. All he did was forgive. Forgive and hold him.

Even after Derek had calmed down and Stiles had dozed off again, he couldn’t sleep. Though it was only a dream, Elaina’s words haunted Derek.

**_You don’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve them. You don’t deserve him..._ **

 

 

July 30, 4PM

Deaton finished Derek’s check-up and smiled.

“Looks like he’s healed very nicely. Time to take off the fixator.” he said.

“Sweet” Stiles grinned, folding his arms as he waited.

When Derek’s leg was freed, he became antsy. He’d been hobbling around for two months. He wanted to _run_. As soon as Stiles opened the door so they could go home, Derek bolted. He ran around the parking lot, back and forth, back and forth. He jumped and barked and wagged his tail. He was _never_ going to take this for granted again.

Stiles laughed. “Come on, goofball. You can run around at home.” he said as he held the Jeep door open for him.

Derek happily trotted up to the Jeep and hopped in without any assistance.

Aside from all the obvious reasons why he was happy to be able to run again, Derek was also relieved that- should he need to escape or defend himself- he wasn’t completely helpless against Peter. Over the weeks, Derek had occasionally heard about suspicious animals attacks, and all the theories that Stiles and Scott had about the situation. Stiles would sometimes come home late, with the faint smell of Peter on him. The scent wasn’t strong enough to imply that he had come into contact with Peter, but that they had been in the same place at different times. On those nights, Stiles was often stressed and would stay up late doing research.  A lot of what Stiles read up on were things that Derek could’ve taught him. It made him wish he could talk. But at least Stiles was clever enough to handle things on his own. Or at least he had handled things well enough so far. Derek didn’t like to think about what might happen if there came a day when Stiles couldn’t handle things.

Derek figured that’s why he was sticking around even though he could easily run away and go back to the forest. He felt like had to look out for Stiles. As a dog, he couldn’t really take down a werewolf like Peter. But after everything the Stilinski’s had done for him, he had to at least try to defend Stiles if he needed to. Besides, there was no bacon in the woods.

~

August 10, 11PM

Derek lapped at his water bowl, then went upstairs. But when he reached Stiles’ room, he was met with a closed door, the sound of a quickening heart rate, and the smell of lotion and precum.

**_Well ok then._ **

Derek decided to go get some fresh air. He went back downstairs, squeezed through the doggy door, and sat in the back yard for a while. He looked up at the sky, but because of the nearby streetlights, he couldn’t see anything. One thing he loved about life in the woods was that he often found clearings where he could lay down and watch the stars. He missed that.

**_Just one night away won’t hurt. Stiles will probably just crash right after he finishes, and won’t even notice._ **

Derek glanced up at Stiles’ bedroom window, and could see Stiles’ head. He was staring at the computer, brow furrowed like he was concentrating, biting his lip, then he threw his head back and exposed his neck and _wow_ , how about that walk, huh? A nice, long walk in the woods to get some fresh air and some time away from...that.

Derek shook his head and started running down the road and toward the woods.

About a half an hour later, Stiles came out of his room went downstairs to get a soda. Normally Professor X was sitting on the couch when he wasn’t in Stiles’ room. But Stiles couldn’t see him anywhere. He wandered around the house looking for the dog. But he wasn’t there. Stiles went out to the back yard, but still no dog. Stiles circled the house and tried not to get himself worked up.

“Professor X?!” he shouted.

He looked down and saw a fresh pawprint in the mud by the road.

His dog was loose. In a town with a vicious werewolf at large.

“Fuck.”

 

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr: lupinaroundthemoon + jessenwalsh


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short. I originally planned a few more scenes for it, but I haven't finished them yet, so I decided to just post what I have so that I can at least be on time. To make up for the shortness of this chapter, I'm gonna try to post the other half/next chapter early. Probably Monday.

The air was so clean in the forest. Derek wouldn’t call the air in Beacon Hills polluted. But no town smells fresh the way forests do. Beacon Hills was polluted, though. In a way. It had too much baggage for a town so small. But not the forest. The forest was pure.

Derek looked up at the stars when he reached a nice clearing. He laid down and stared at them, trying to identify the constellations. He knew a lot of them because he used to sit outside with his mother and listen to her teach him about astronomy. She also frequently used constellations to illustrate stories from mythology.

As a child, he used to wish on stars. He’d wish that dragons were real (if werewolves are real, then why not dragons, right?). He’d wish to become a pro basketball player. He’d wish for a friend that he could talk to about being a werewolf.

Scott had that. Stiles was always there for him. By the time Derek met Stiles, he was already a dog and couldn’t talk. What a joke. Were he and Stiles really friends anyway, though? People think of their dogs as their friends, but it’s not the same. And Derek wasn’t really a dog. Not yet anyway.

How long did he have? How long ago did Elaina cast that spell? Derek remembered coming into town as a dog and seeing Halloween decorations, and he’d already been living in the woods for a while, so it had to be September at the latest when he was transformed. Maybe August. Had the one year mark already come and gone? It was possible that he’d missed his chance, that it was over.

There was a pang in Derek’s chest.

The thought was surreal and overwhelming. To never talk to anyone again. He’d never get to tell Stiles….he didn’t know what he wanted to tell him. To stop calling him Professor X probably. To tell him his real name. No one would ever know his name. He would be forgotten. He’d never get to start over, make a life with someone.

**_That probably wouldn’t have happened anyway._ **

But it was pointless to think about. If the year wasn’t over already, it was too close to do anything about it. You can’t just find love on demand because of some deadline. It can’t be forced or controlled.

A shooting star dashed through the sky, gone almost as soon as it appeared. The last time Derek had wished on a star, he wished to wake up in his room, with the smell of his mother making breakfast filling the in-tact Hale house. He was just a teenager- a kid, he’d made mistakes and lost everything, and all he wanted was home and pack.

Derek’s wishes had never come true before. It was silly to think that they would, especially since Derek was an adult. Besides, he was out of ideas. What could he possibly ask for? But he closed his eyes anyway, took a deep breath and let it out.

 ** _Mercy_**.

~

Scott was laying on his bed, surrounded by papers, books, and his laptop. Allison was on top of him, kissing his neck. She had come over so they could work on figuring out how to stop the wolf that was attacking the town. But Melissa had the night shift at the hospital, and the temptation to take advantage of the privacy they had was too strong. It started when Allison was hunched over a book, reading aloud, when Scott stroked her hair and tucked it behind her ear. She smiled and scooted closer to him. He kissed her cheek over and over until she was giggling too much to keep reading. She tossed the book to the side and pushed him down. It was one of those makeout sessions that had a perfect blend of playfulness and heat. Allison gently bit Scott’s earlobe.

“Ow!” He giggled.

“You’re a werewolf, you big baby.” She teased.

“I still feel pain, jaws.” He said, flicking her butt.

“Hey!” She giggled. He pulled her face down to kiss her again.

His phone started ringing.

_People let me tell you about my best friend_

_He’s a warm-hearted person who’ll love me till the end..._

__

Scott sighed and reached over to his nightstand to answer the phone.

“I’m kinda busy, Stiles.” He smiled, looking up at Allison, whose hair was already a bit messed up.

“Oh, ok. No problem. We can just not look for my missing dog, then. I’m sure he’ll be ok. He’s probably not in any danger of being wolf-food.” Stiles said, sounding just as panicked as he did sarcastic.

“Whoa, whoa, he ran away?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, Scott! I don’t know how long he’s been gone, all I have is a pawprint, and I need you to get your Hannibal Lecter nose over here and help me track him down.”

Allison let out a quiet snort. This was a serious situation, but this is what she loved about Stiles. The way Stiles used wit and humor as a defense mechanism was probably annoying to some people. But she always found it strangely comforting. When they were in a bad situation and Stiles made a pop culture reference, it kind of put things into perspective in Allison’s mind. It reminded her that their lives weren’t happening in a vacuum. That there was a whole world out there, bigger than their problems, bigger than Beacon Hills, bigger than the creatures they faced. The world wasn’t ending.

Scott told Stiles he’d be there in a few minutes, then they both got out of bed and fixed their clothes and hair. They hoped on Scott’s bike, Allison wrapped her arms around his torso, and they hurried to Stiles’ house.

Stiles was pacing back and forth when they arrived. He pointed down at the pawprint, then out down the road. “He went that way, I guess.” He brought his hand to his mouth, his elbow supported by the arm he had going across his stomach, and bit his nails.

Scott put his hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “Hey. We’ll find him. Ok?”

Stiles still looked upset, but he nodded.

“Let’s get in the Jeep.” Scott said.

They got in and Scott rolled down his window and stuck his head out so he could smell. There were plenty of jokes Stiles could make, but now wasn't the time. They drove down the road, turned, and every now and again they had to back up because Scott lost the scent for a moment.

“I guess it’s a good thing I haven’t given him a bath in a while. If I had it might be even harder for you to track him.” Stiles said. Allison smiled at him through the rear view mirror.

Baths were rare because Derek kind of hated them. Sure, he missed showers and being able to keep clean the way humans do. But that was not the same as being taken out into the back yard with a hose and a bucket.

“I know it’s dumb to be so freaked out. But even after all our research, we still don’t know shit about this werewolf. We just know that he’s dangerous and that he hasn’t attacked in a few of days, so it could happen any time now. We don’t understand what he targets- hell, it could be random, and it’d be just my luck that my dog would be the next victim.” Stiles said.

“I’m sure it’s not random.” Allison said. Scott wasn’t saying much because he was trying to focus on the scent.

“Even so, Professor X could still be a midnight snack.”

It took them over twenty minutes, but they finally followed the dog’s scent all the way to the edge of the woods. Scott slowly walked among the trees for a few moments, taking in the scent of each direction.

“Well?” Stiles asked.

“He was everywhere around here. He must’ve been playing and running all over the place.” he shook his head, “The smell is too confusing. I don’t know which way he went. I’m sorry.”

Stiles looked at the ground in disappointment. Allison took his hand.

“Hey,” she said, “I’m sure he’s fine. Dogs do this all the time. He’ll probably be back home tomorrow, if not sooner.”

Stiles sighed. “Yeah. I guess all I can do is go home and wait.”

Scott and Allison walked Stiles to the door of his house.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay over?” Scott asked.

“Yeah, it’s ok. You’re probably right, I’m probably just over-reacting.” Stiles said.

“Try to get some sleep.” Allison said, touching his arm. Stiles nodded.

Stiles waited till Scott’s bike was out of sight to go inside. He didn’t go to bed, though. He was too restless now. He paced back and forth, looking out the windows every few minutes, hoping to see that shaggy mass of fur trot through the yard. He turned on the tv for the sake of not being driven crazy by the silence. When he couldn’t bite his nails anymore without it hurting, he grabbed a rubber band to play with as he walked back and forth throughout the house.

~

Derek had two options. He could return home to the Stilinski’s place or he could stay in the woods and continue his life as it was before the accident. But Derek didn’t see it that way. He didn’t even think about it really. A few minutes after the shooting star passed, he just stood up and started walking back toward town. He only stopped when he reached the edge of the woods, on top of a hill overlooking the town. He looked back at the woods.

_**Should I?** _

The woods looked darker than usual. It was night, so of course it was dark. But there was something unfriendly about it. Isolated. It felt like the branches of the trees might pull him in and swallow him. He turned and looked at the town. The streetlights looked warm and Derek wanted to be under them. They drew him in.

**_The forest will always be here._ **

****

He started making his way downtown, walking fast, faces- _**Dammit**_ , **_Stiles_**!

He shook his head as if the tune would come out through his ears.

When he got back home, all the lights were on, and by the time he reached the porch, he could smell fear and anxiety. He went through the doggy door and smelled the air and listened for heartbeats. Only Stiles was there, and his heart was like a drum solo. He found Stiles in the living room and Stiles’ eyes got wide when he saw him. His hair was messed up the same way it was the night before a test, when he was cramming and kept running his hands through it over and over. Stressed to the max. He dropped to his knees and sighed with relief, opening his arms and pulling Derek into a hug when the dog stepped closer to him.

“You had me worried sick, you dumb dog!” Stiles said softly and with shaky breath.

_**You...worried? ...You missed me?** _

Stiles was holding him so tightly. Derek nuzzled his head to make up for the fact that he couldn’t hug Stiles back. His tail swept the floor as Stiles pet his back.

“Come on. Let’s just watch tv till we crash. I’m too worked up to go to bed.” Stiles said when he finally stood.

Stiles sat on the couch and started surfing channels while Derek curled up in a ball next to him.

~

The floorboards creaked with every step Peter took. He was in human-form, pacing the Hale house and muttering to himself, planning. He’d just gotten back in town after completing his mission to kill Kate Argent. She was now rotting in her apartment and probably wouldn’t be found for at least a week. But when she was found, Peter wished he could see the horror on her family’s faces. Wished he could smell the fear of every hunter who received his message.

This was only the beginning.

His next goal was to burn down the Argent’s home. An eye for an eye. He’d spent the years trying to overcome a paralysing fear of fire with some success. He was sure that when it came time to face the Argents for the last time, he would have no trouble watching the flames. In fact, he wished he could _be_ the flames. He wanted to destroy hunters the exact way they destroyed his pack. He wanted them to constantly watch their backs because they could _feel_ him tracking them like animals, trapping them, and then taking everything away from them right down to the very air they breathed. He wanted them gasping for air only to receive heat that cooked them from inside their lungs. He wanted them screaming and clawing at the walls of their own homes. He wanted it so badly he wished he could be the fire so he could do it himself and witness it up close.

But he didn’t want to do it all alone. Not if he didn’t have to. For months he’d left messages for Derek. He called every week until the phone went out of service. He sent countless emails. Derek had disappeared and he had no clue what happened to him. He was probably dead, Peter knew that, but he felt like Derek was still alive. So he kept trying to make contact. He wanted Derek to be there when he burned down the Argents’ house. He wanted to sit in Chris Argent’s driveway with Derek and a couple of beers. Just watching the flames like fireworks on the fourth of July.

Peter went upstairs to the pile of blankets that served as a bed. He hated them, but he had no money. He stole everything he had, and unfortunately it’d be easy to get caught stealing a mattress. Sure, he could steal a credit card to buy the mattress just like he’d stolen cards for other necessities (which he was very careful about; never keeping a card for long and always using it outside of Beacon Hills), but he’d have to load it into a stolen truck. And auto theft seemed too risky. To easy to be noticed or tracked down. Too easy to leave fingerprints behind.

Peter was obsessed with staying off the grid. No hunter was ever going to get close to him again. Not unless they were the ones who were about to be killed.

He laid down and closed his eyes. He began taking deep breaths to relax, but after a moment he smelled something.

 _Laura_.

His eyes popped open and he sat up as he saw her standing in the doorway. Her clothes and skin were burnt and black. She smelled of burning hair and tears streamed down her face. She gripped her throat and tried to scream, but the hoarse wheezing sound that came out could only be described as desperate. It was the sound she made the day of the fire, the last sound Peter heard her make.

“Laura!” He jumped up and ran to her with his arms reaching to hold her, “It’s ok, I’m--” he went right through her. He turned around and saw only an empty doorway. “...here.”

That wasn’t the first time that had happened. It actually happened at least once or twice a month. Sometimes it was Laura, sometimes Cora, sometimes one or both of their parents. And sometimes it was Derek. It usually happened in the house, but sometimes it happened other places as well; shops, cafes, barbeque joints. Sometimes the woods. In the woods, he smelled- or thought he smelled- Derek more often the any of the others. Maybe because he knew that Derek loved to spend time there. Of course, Derek wasn’t in the fire, so there was no vision of him for Peter to see. But when he chased the smell, it never led him to anything.

They were his only company. And they were phantoms.

Well, there was also the occasional prostitute. He had needs.

Whether those needs were directly related to his dick or a simple distraction didn’t matter to Peter.

After being shaken up like that, he couldn’t just lay back down. He needed air. He quickly got out of the house, wolfed out, and ran into the reserve. Aside from killing Kate, this was the first time he’d wolfed out in months. The first time he did it intentionally anyway. Sometimes he went to bed upstairs, but woke up somewhere else. Sometimes he didn’t even remember going to sleep. He just blacked out and lost a few hours of time. He’d read about the attacks in the paper and pieced it together. But he didn’t care. He decided to trust his inner wolf. He believed that the wolf’s instincts could detect something in the people he attacked. Maybe they were hunters or had some relation to hunters. Maybe they were other wolves invading his territory. Whatever the reason was, it didn’t matter to him. He had more important things to think about. Like which room should he lock the Argents in when he set their house on fire. The basement would be the most poetic choice. But being hunters, they might have some kind of escape tunnel or something. He made a mental note to look into that. To try to sneak into the house to make some assessments.

 **  
**He got lost in thought while running and somehow made his way back into town. He could hear a car coming, so he hid behind a dumpster. A Jeep along with a familiar smell passed him. It was another wolf. The same one who had been to his house a couple of months ago. The same one who he smelled traces of every time he revisited the place where he apparently killed someone. This wolf was tracking him. It didn’t make sense that the other wolf knew where he lived and was tracking him, but never confronted him or turned him in. Maybe he was too inferior in power. Maybe he wasn’t a serious threat. But Peter didn’t want to gamble. After running for at least a couple of hours, he needed to rest, but after that, he planned to track the wolf down and put an end to the matter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend mentioned to me that they can see how Derek is falling in love, but they didn't get how Stiles could be falling in love. So I thought I should address this here. Put simply, Stiles isn't falling in love with Derek. He can't for obvious reasons. This is one of the major differences between this fic and Beauty and the Beast. In B&tB, Beast had to earn Belle's love in return and it was only when she said she loved him that he transformed. So because Stiles can't fall in love with a dog, I've made the rules a little different. This story isn't about Derek finding love and earning another's love in return, it's about him finding love and opening himself up to it. And he has to act on that love to seal the deal.   
> So if anyone was confused about that, hopefully this clears things up.   
> What are your thoughts on this? I'd love to talk about it, and I really appreciate feedback. :)

August 11, 7:57 AM

Stiles rolled over and tried to get his vision to focus on his phone.

“Shit!”

He flailed to free himself from his blanket burrito, forcing Derek to jump off the couch to avoid getting kicked in the face. Stiles rushed to his room and threw on some clothes that he was only 60% sure were clean, then ran to the bathroom. A moment later, he returned looking more or less the same (his hair was an absolute mess) but with a bit of toothpaste on the corner of his mouth. He grabbed his bag, and pet Derek’s head on his way out. “Later, dude.”

Derek had completely forgotten about the lacrosse game. He felt bad that Stiles had stayed up late looking for him, making him oversleep. Actually, knowing Stiles, he still would’ve overslept. But he still felt guilty for worrying Stiles.

_**At least the kid’ll get a weekend away from this town. Away from Peter.** _

Derek still wasn’t sure how this was going to play out. He just knew that if Stiles kept meddling, he was going to get himself killed. Scott too, probably.

~

Stiles was honking before the Jeep even stopped in front of Scott’s house. Scott must’ve been waiting for him, because he was running to the Jeep before Stiles could even lean over to open the door.

“Why 8am, coach?” Stiles complained as Scott closed the door behind him and they sped off.

Coach looked at his watch. 8:13. “Where the hell are McCall and Bolinski?!” he asked either no one or everyone.

“Scott just texted me. They’re on their way.” Allison said. She and Lydia were standing next to Lydia’s car, which was parked near the bus full of lacrosse players.

“If they’re not here in five minutes, they’re riding with you.” Coach said, pointing to Lydia.

Moments later, the Jeep tore through the parking lot and took up half of two parking spaces as it came to a screeching halt. Stiles practically fell out of the car and cursed as he spun around, looking for the bus in vain. Lydia just stared at him, arms crossed. She looked just as pissed as she did beautiful, and if Stiles had a tail, it’d be between his legs.

“You just missed them.” Allison said.

“There was a little traffic.” Scott shrugged.

Lydia rolled her eyes and popped the trunk open.

“I call shotgun.” Allison said, getting in the front seat.

Stiles and Scott put their stuff in, careful to keep it away from the archery equipment, (which they were surprised to find there) then got in the back seat. Lydia was already waiting in the driver’s seat, so once the doors were closed, she started trying to catch up with the bus. After spending the entire drive from the school to the highway in uncomfortable silence, Stiles broke the ice.

“I don’t get why you’re so mad.”

“We were going to make a few stops on the way, take our time.” Allison said even though Stiles was talking to Lydia and she didn’t seem to be mad.

“But now, because we have to make sure you get there at the same time as the rest of the team, we can only stop when the bus does. Except for gas.” Lydia said, glaring at his reflection in the rear view mirror.

Soon, Allison changed the subject, and after a few minutes Lydia seemed to have cooled down. But Stiles still didn’t manage to get a smile from her until their first gas station stop. After Lydia filled up the tank, Stiles volunteered to go inside and pay. He came back and pulled one of those bottled Starbucks drinks and a bright pink rose from behind his back. She took them and smiled. “Well at least you picked one that matches my lipstick.”

Stiles knew that was her way of saying he was forgiven, so he made the “score” gesture, then got back in the car.

Later on, when it came out why Stiles had slept in, Lydia felt bad. If her dog had run off like that, she would’ve been up all night too.

“He’s ok, though, right?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah. He’s fine. The little shit probably had a blast running around in the woods.” Stiles said.

She nodded and things got quiet again.

“So what’s up with the archery stuff in the trunk?” Scott asked.

“Well, we’re gonna have some free time this afternoon before the game. So Allison and I are hoping to find a good place where she can show me how to shoot.” Lydia said.

“We’ll have to add that to our list of Reasons Not To Make Lydia Martin Mad.” Stiles nudged Scott’s elbow with his.

“And write it in all caps.” Lydia smiled.

~

1:45PM

When everyone met up at the pizza place, they took up three tables. Stiles was in the middle of the corner booth, with Scott and Boyd on either side of him, and Jackson and Lydia sat on the end.

“What’s up with the flower?” Jackson asked, pointing to the flower that was now in the little pocket on the front of her top.

“Stiles gave it to me.”

Jackson scoffed. “Looks cheap.”

“Well, _I_ like it.” Lydia said.

Jackson rolled his eyes, then gave Stiles a dirty look when he saw Stiles looking at them.

“Jesus. It’s a flower, not a key to my place.” Stiles muttered, leaning toward Scott. The teammates at the other tables were being too loud for Jackson to hear.

“Seriously. It’s not like he should feel threatened by you.” Scott whispered.

“Gee, thanks.”

Before Scott could apologize, Boyd leaned over. “Actually, I think he is jealous.”

Both Scott and Stiles looked at him in confusion.

“You got to spend all morning in a comfortable car,” Boyd continued, “He had to sit next to the kid who always gets car sick.”

Stiles latched onto his straw for a drink, looking rather pleased.

“And did he...you know.” Scott made a gesture that looked like throwing up.

“Didn’t you see Jackson carrying his shoes off the bus earlier?” Boyd grinned.

Stiles snorted, almost making him choke on his soda. He cleared his throat and continued snickering. Jackson knew it was directed at him and glared at him again.

~

5:30PM

Someone was knocking on the door, so John put the orange juice away and looked himself over before walking toward the door. Because he had the night shift the night before and was going to have it again that night, he only been awake long enough to put on a t-shirt and some jeans. He figured he looked good enough for what was probably just going to be a salesperson. But to his surprise, when he opened the door, Melissa was standing there.

“Hi.”

“Hey.” she smiled back, almost nervously. “I hope I didn’t wake you up--”

“No, no, I’ve been up for... at least ten minutes.” he said, looking at his wrist for a watch that wasn’t there. Melissa looked a little embarrassed even though she had no reason to be.

“Well, I just came by because it’s my day off and I was thinking that- if you were home, since neither of us get much time away from both work and the boys, maybe we could have a movie night or something.” she lifted up a sack full of dvds, “I just thought it might be nice to hang out and talk to someone who isn’t a teenager or colleague.”

John’s smile widened. “Sounds good. I was actually thinking about ordering some pizza, so…”

“That’s perfect!” she said with a grin. She looked relieved.

“So yeah, come on in.” He said, stepping aside.

By the time the first movie started and the pizza arrived, all awkwardness had melted away. Of course, it’s not like they wouldn’t be friends if their sons weren’t friends. It’s just that they almost never saw each other without the boys around. So this was different. Not bad. Just different. It was nice.

Derek thought about going upstairs to leave them alone, but once he saw the movies Melissa brought, he changed his mind.

**_She has good taste._ **

Besides, maybe, just maybe, John would let him have some slices of pepperoni.

At around nine, they got texts from Scott and Stiles saying that they’d won the game. And since that was cause to celebrate, they treated themselves to an extra slice of pizza. Which they would both regret.

**  
  
**

~

11PM

Peter had been searching the town for over three hours, trying to track down Scott. His scent was all over town, but he managed to find the strongest trail and follow it from that piece of shit Jeep in the high school’s parking lot to a house. No one was home. But Scott’s scent was stronger here than anywhere else. This was his home. He’d be back sooner or later. There wasn’t really a good place to hide. Scott would know Peter was there the second he pulled into the driveway. So he decided to come back later.

He caught a scent and turned around to see Derek staring back at him.

“Hey.” Peter said, “Where the hell have you--”

Derek turned away from him and walked into a patch of trees. Peter followed but soon realized he was alone. He wondered if he’d ever learn how to know when they were real and when they weren’t. He wondered if he’d ever get used to the disappointment of it all being in his head.

~

The end credits of Terminator 2 started and Melissa ejected the disc.

“Well, this has been great. I’m really glad you came over.” John said.

“Me too.” She smiled as she put the disc back in it’s case.

“I wish we had time for another movie, but my shift starts in an hour.” he said, double-checking the clock.

“I understand. I should probably get some sleep while I can. I start early tomorrow.”

They cleaned up their mess from dinner and Melissa gathered up her purse and movies. John walked her to the door and she turned to face him once she was outside.

“We should do this again sometime.” he said.

“Yeah, definitely. Maybe next time I can bring The Notebook.” she teased. One time she had caught him watching it and crying. She would never let him forget it.

“Ha ha. No. I am never watching that again.” he said as she started laughing.

“Ok. Then maybe Pirates of the Caribbean.” she said. She was starting to turn to walk away.

“Sounds good. See you later.” he smiled.

“Bye.”

Neither one of them started it. It just sort of happened. They both leaned forward and before they realized what they were doing, they had planted a chaste kiss right on the other’s lips. It was only after he’d closed the door that John noticed it.

“Oh, god…” he said, his eyes growing wide.

Melissa was halfway to her car when she stopped dead in her tracks as she realized it. “Oh, god…”

_**Oh, god.** _

“What did I just do?” John muttered to himself as he slumped back against the door.

Melissa didn’t know what to do. Should she turn around and apologize? Who initiated the kiss? Did John think that was what she came over for? She was too scared that John would be there staring at her if she turned around, so she just rushed to her car and drove off. Maybe going a few miles over the speed limit.

John couldn’t decide if he should open the door and apologize or not, and when he heard her drive away, he was glad that he didn’t have to make that decision. Although, he had no idea what he would say the next time they saw each other. They were supposed to have dinner at her house with the boys and Allison when they got back from the trip. And he might bump into her around town before then.

“What do you think, boy? Should I just pretend that didn’t happen?”

**_Seriously? After everything-- Just. No._ **

Derek let out a sigh and laid his head down.

John sighed too. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll figure it out.” He went back to his room to change into his uniform.

~

Derek went up to his room- well, Stiles’ room to take advantage of having the bed all to himself for the weekend. He curled up and rested his head on the pillow, but he couldn’t fall asleep. It was too quiet. Naturally. Stiles finally goes away and gives him a little peace, and the place is too quiet without him. Derek spotted an old stereo on the floor by the desk. Stiles had pulled it out of an old box when his ipod broke. Luckily, all Derek had to do was push down on the power button with his paw. It was already set to a good station and the volume was just right.

_In the valley of the dolls we sleep_

_We sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Of me_

_Born with a void, hard to destroy_

_With love or hope_

_Built with a heart, broken from the start_

_And now I die slow..._

__

Derek nudged his way under the blankets and did his best to make a nest from them. If Stiles’ scent all over the bed was comforting, Derek wasn’t about to admit it. Hell, he wasn’t even going to think it. Because that would be...no. He’s not even going to think about it.

_In the valley of the dolls we sleep_

_Got a hole inside of me_

_Living with identities_

_That do not belong to me_

_In my life I got this far_

_Now I’m ready for the last hurrah_

_Dying like a shooting star_

_In the valley…_

~

August 12, 5PM

They were late getting back home because there was some trouble with the bus along the way. But it could’ve been worse. Stiles and Scott were in the Jeep, on their way to Stiles’ house to pick up his dad. Lydia was giving Allison a ride in her car. They were going to pick the food up from the Chinese restaurant, then meet everyone else at Scott’s place. When the Sheriff opened the door, Stiles could see Derek in the living room.

“Ooh! Dad! Bring Professor X!” Stiles called from the Jeep.

“I don’t think Melissa would be ok with--”

“Nah, it’s ok. She loves Professor X.” Scott chimed in.

After a little hesitation, John shrugged and called Derek to follow him. Derek did _not_ need to be told twice. He held back and played it cool because he didn’t want to be seen running into Stiles’ arms. But he couldn’t help but wag his tail as he trotted up to the Jeep. Three people, a large dog, and two peoples’ lacrosse equipment and luggage made things a little cramped, but it was a short drive to Scott’s house.

When they arrived, Scott and Derek both thought they smelled something. But it was too faint, so they shook it off as nothing. Plus the scent of Melissa’s perfume threw them off when she walked up to Scott with open arms and a big grin.

“Hey, congratulations!” she said.

“Thanks.” both of the boys said.

“I hope you don’t mind, Stiles wanted to bring the dog.” John said to her. He just really didn’t want his first words to her to be about the kiss, especially not in front of the boys.

“No, of course not. I mean, he’s family too, right?” she said. She was trying really hard to not hold eye contact for too long but also keep things from being awkward. At least the boys didn’t notice anything.

“Lydia and Allison should be here soon.” Stiles said.

“Great. I’ll just go see if there’s anything good on tv.” Melissa said. And with that, they all went inside.

John sat in a chair off to the side of the room. Stiles and Scott plopped on the couch. And Melissa started flipping channels. Derek didn’t know the rules in this house, so he just curled up on the floor next to Stiles’ legs. The girls soon arrived and everyone chowed down and eventually agreed on a channel.

Despite all the noise and talking, Derek managed to fall asleep. A couple of hours passed, the sky grew dark, and everyone ate just enough to save room for the ice cream Melissa had bought. Scott was laughing at something Allison said when he suddenly caught a scent. He stood up, his senses on high alert.

“Scott?” Allison looked up at him with concern.

“Everyone just stay in here.” he said quietly. He followed the scent to the back door, opened it and scanned the back yard until he found a pair of red eyes glaring at him from within a patch of trees.

Peter could smell them all inside. The wolf, the human who was always with him, their fear. He could also smell Derek, but after how long he waited for this, he wasn’t going to let another delusion distract him.

“He’s here.” Stiles whispered when he caught up to Scott and saw what he was looking at.

“Stay here.” Scott said as he went outside.

“Like hell I am.” Stiles said as he followed. John tried to tell him to stay inside but, as usual, it didn’t work. John had one hand on his gun holster and his other hand was being gripped tightly by Melissa.

Peter growled as Scott slowly approached him. But he didn’t wolf out until Peter stepped forward and showed clear signs of aggression (an intimidating stance and bared fangs).

Peter’s scent had grown strong enough that it finally woke Derek up. When he saw that everyone was gone, he rushed toward the door. Everyone was staring out the window. Derek did a quick head-count. Everyone was there but Scott and... ** _Stiles_**. The door was still open just a crack and Derek was able to push his way through. He made it outside right on time to see Peter send Scott flying through the air with the swipe of his paw, which made Derek growl and bark viciously.

“Scott!” Stiles cried.

Melissa covered her mouth with both hands and tears welled up in her eyes. Lydia was surprised that Allison hadn’t screamed too, and that’s when she noticed that she was gone. John pulled his gun out and rushed out the door. Stiles ran to Scott’s aid and Peter began charging toward them. John fired multiple shots into Peter, but none of them seemed to hurt him. Stiles had started to back away in fear, but fell backwards onto the ground.

Some people say that at times like this, everything slows down. But of course that’s not the case at all. Everything was happening so fast. When that happens, you adapt. Your instincts take over and you’ve done things before you even knew you were doing them. And that’s exactly what happened when Derek ran at Peter. A dog could never stand a chance against an Alpha wolf. But _nobody_ gets between Derek and someone he cares about.

There was too much space between Derek and Stiles, and too little space between Stiles and Peter. John was shooting until every bullet was gone. Derek put everything he had into thrusting himself off the ground, to lunge at Peter. His instinct to protect and the pain in his chest clouded Derek’s mind and he didn’t even notice he was changing.

Because the thing is, love can’t be forced or controlled. It just happens. Sometimes it sneaks up on you. It creeps into your heart, wearing plaid and driving a piece of shit Jeep. And sometimes it’s annoying. But somewhere along the line, annoyance had become caring. Caring had become love. And paws had become hands. Hands that were reaching through to air to grab Peter’s throat.

Peter was just inches away from Stiles when Derek hit him with the full weight of his body, knocking him to the side, a few feet away from Stiles. In what must’ve been an instant, Derek had transformed from dog to man to werewolf. And Peter didn’t even have time to notice until they’d wrestled and he had pinned Derek down. When he realized who he was fighting, he changed from wolf to man from the shock.

“Derek?!” His eyes were so wide. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

Before Derek could reply, there was a sharp hissing sound and a wolfsbane-laced arrow landed in Peter’s neck. Peter grabbed at his neck as blood spilled out. He stumbled off of Derek and fell onto his back.

“I--” Peter croaked. He couldn’t say more than that. Another arrow pierced his chest, and eight heartbeats turned into seven.

Derek was frozen. Even though he’d known it was Peter, everything that had happened in the last minute hadn’t sunk in yet. He was in shock. Everyone was. What broke the silence was Melissa running to Scott, who was already healing. John got on the phone to tell his officers that despite the phonecalls they were probably getting, there had been no shooting. Allison was standing tall, bow in hand, calm and in control. Like a statue erected to honor a heroine. Her mother had taught her well.

“Who the hell are you?” Lydia asked Derek, looking appropriately freaked out.

Derek’s eyes darted up to hers and from her to Stiles, who was staring at him. He was still on the ground, just as frozen as Derek was. Stiles’ mouth was gaping and the look on his face was some combination of confusion and horror. All eyes were on Derek. He panicked. He scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as he possibly could.  

Everything went quiet again as everyone watched Derek disappear. They just stared into the darkness as everything registered in their minds. Three minutes ago, they were having a post-lacrosse victory dinner like normal people. Now, everything was had changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, there's still more to come. Probably three more chapters. Maybe four. And I am SO STOKED! I've been dying to write Derek interacting with people. :D


	5. Bury My Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of Peter's death and Derek's transformation from dog to his natural form, everyone has cleaning up to do.   
> Or  
> The one in which a body is buried, feelings are buried, Allison gets bad news, and Derek finally gets to take a real shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, look at that! I'm actually posting a chapter early!   
> I just got excited and couldn't stop writing, so here it is.

The sticks and rocks hurt Derek’s bare feet, but he didn’t stop until he was at least five blocks away. He ran through back yard after back yard, lucky not to be seen.  He stopped to catch his breath in a yard that had plenty of bushes to help hide him. That’s when he noticed the blood smeared all over his hands and chest. Peter’s blood. He found a hose and started to wash off and _fuck_ , that was cold. Someone inside must’ve heard him because a light near the back door came on. Derek knew he had to start running again. The whole neighborhood was probably talking about the gunshots and now here he was, naked, washing blood off himself in someone’s yard.

_What even happened to my clothes?_

He turned the water off and ran. One of the yards he passed through after that had a pool, and luckily for Derek, someone had left their swim trunks to dry on a chair. Derek slipped into them and moved on. Soon he had to stop running through people’s yards and take empty streets and alleyways. The pavement hurt his feet even more than sticks, but he was only a few blocks away from his loft. Shit. Was his loft even as he left it? Someone could’ve robbed the place, it could’ve caught fire, anything might’ve happened.

Fortunately, everything seemed fine when he got there. Just much dustier. But god was this surreal. Surreal enough to push Stiles out of Derek’s mind for a few minutes while he came to terms with what was happening. He was in his own place. Standing on two legs. He brushed his hands up from his thighs to his chest to his neck. He looked at his hands. Opposable thumbs. Fingers that moved in all directions, that could spread out and explore the structure of his face and body. He touched his mouth, his facial hair and nose. He abruptly ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Nothing had really changed, he looked just as he did last year. He was himself again. He never thought he’d be a man again. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Fuck.” he croaked. Hearing his own voice made him touch his throat.

He was so overwhelmed. By the transformation. By Peter’s death. By the look on Stiles’ face. God, he saw it every time he closed his eyes. Stiles was probably scarred for life. The kid probably thought he was some sort of freak. Derek didn’t know if he was sobbing or having a panic attack, but it was hard to breathe and he wanted to splash some water on his face. He turned the nozzle on the sink, but the only thing that came out was a squeak.

_Right. Haven’t paid bills in a year._

He took a few deep breaths to calm down. No water, no electricity, and all the food would be spoiled by now. He decided to get a hotel room. But first, he wanted to….just be. in his own home. He walked around looking through things, touching everything. His fingers disturbed the layers of dust and made him sneeze.

Well. If he was going to be handling everything, he may as well do something useful. He got a rag from the cupboard and started dusting. He made a pile of cds and movies to take to the hotel since he didn’t know how long he’d be there. He flipped through books over and over to relearn what it feels like. Strangely enough, even though many of his movements- like reaching out to pick something up- were automatic, when he realized what he was doing he stopped to observe it. Everything felt like something new, in a way.

He went to the kitchen and Jesus, it reeked. Everything in the fridge had to go, and 90% of what was in the cabinet had to be thrown out too. He carried the two full trashbags to the door so he could take them out when he left. Then he went to his room, got dressed (oh how he’d missed the feeling of a leather jacket) and started packing a bag. He found his phone and wallet on the nightstand, covered in dust. It was pure luck that he’d forgotten them the night he went to see that witch.

_Derek, you lucky dumbass._

He smiled as he put them in his pocket. His phone was dead and out of minutes, so he’d need to get that sorted out as well as his other bills. He found the charger and put it in his bag, along with his laptop. He dusted the room and went over his mental checklist of things he should do before leaving. He was ready to go. He didn’t really want to, but what else could he do until he at least got the power turned back on?

~

9PM

“Stiles.” John said softly, putting a hand on his son’s shoulder.

Stiles was sitting on the McCall’s couch, staring into space. He had his knees by his chest and his thumb between his lips like he might bite the nail. He hadn’t responded to a word anyone had said since Professor-- _Derek_ had run off.

“Melissa said you can stay here if you want,” John continued, “but it’s up to you. You can stay here, go with Scott, or I’ll take you home. What do you want to do?”

Stiles thought it over. Home didn’t sound too appealing at the moment. Neither did staying there. He decided to go with Scott because he just really wanted to a distraction from the total mindfuck he was enduring. Plus, he felt like he shouldn’t make his friend do all the dirty work of disposing of a body. He stood up and tried to shake everything off.

“Scott. I’ll, uh, I’ll go with Scott.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Scott said with a gentle tone.

Everyone was treating Stiles like some kind of trauma victim because none of them had any idea how to react to something like...that. Like. His _dog_. turned into a _guy_. A naked, muscular, good-looking guy, who _somehow knew_ the Alpha. And then he just ran off. Ass cheeks disappearing into the night. What the fuck.

Scott went to the garage and came back with a tarp.

“Uh, no.” Melissa said.

“What?”

“Good tarps are expensive. Use some trash bags.” she said, taking the tarp away from him.

Stiles got the bags while Scott broke the arrows so Peter would be easier to fit inside them. With everyone helping out, it actually wasn’t too hard to get Peter in the bags. They lifted his upper body to put a bag over his head first. Then they lifted his legs to get them in another bag. The hardest part was discreetly carrying the body all the way to the Jeep. Fortunately no one was around so the boys, John, and Allison managed to get Peter in the Jeep without drawing any attention to themselves. Melissa and Lydia had stayed in the house to make sure all the blood had been cleaned up.

“I’ll call Deaton to let him know we’re coming over.” Scott said, getting his phone.

“I’m coming too. In case you need any help with...whatever Deaton will do.” Allison said.

“Me too.” Lydia said as she walked up to them.

“Ok, great. We should probably go, like, now, before anyone comes around to investigate the source of the gunshots.” Stiles said, waving his hands around.

The others nodded and got in the Jeep. Before Stiles could get in, John grabbed him and pulled him into a hug.

“Dad, this is the fifth time you’ve hugged me. Seriously, I’m ok. Just...freaked out.”

“I know. I just...I’m glad you’re ok.” John said.

Stiles nodded and got in the Jeep. He and John waved to each other as he drove off and John went back inside.

~

Hot water rained down on Derek and oh, sweet baby Jesus. He would never take showers for granted again. Never ever. As he lathered the soap all over himself, he found that he still wasn’t bored of rediscovering his body. His fingers traced the veins on his forearms and the hairs on his chest and then they found his dick.

_Oh._

He hadn’t even thought about that yet. But as much as he was enjoying having his old body back, he wasn’t in the mood to touch himself that way yet. Instead he rinsed off and let the water pour over him until his fingers were wrinkled.

When he put on the hotel’s complimentary bathrobe and plopped on the bed, he found that his phone was charged enough for him to check his messages. And there were a lot. His inbox was completely full, in fact. All of his texts were from Peter. They all said “call me” or some variation of that, usually including swears. Derek turned it to speakerphone and played his voicemail while he opened his laptop to check his emails. Some calls were from companies telling Derek to pay his bills and warning him that they were cutting him off. But most of them were from Peter.

“Hey, nephew. So I’m, uh,...I’m out of the hospital. We should have a talk. I’ve got a proposition. Call it a family business. ...Get back to me.”

Hearing Peter’s voice made Derek’s stomach churn. He was still upset that Peter tried to kill his friends, but he was also mourning. Peter was his last relative. And now that he could probably never see Stiles again, he was completely alone. And that thought made him ache.

“K, you’re not answering calls or texts, and I haven’t seen you around town. What the hell is going on, Derek? Call me.”

“Look, do you wanna help me kill the Argents or not? Just answer your goddamn phone!”

“Do you ever see them, Derek? Covered in burns… begging to be saved?” The message didn’t end there, but he didn’t say anything else either. There was only the sound of breathing and...crying?

“I...I don’t know why I’m calling. It’s pointless. You haven’t answered your phone in...seven months? It’s just that writing an email isn’t the same as saying it. So if you ever hear this...They’re gonna pay, Derek. I’m gonna make them all pay. With or without you.”

That was the last message. Peter had also sent about a dozen emails. The first one just mapped out a plan to kill every hunter in the world, starting with a graphic description of what Peter wanted to do to the Argents. Derek understood wanting revenge, but this... Peter was taking it too far. The thought of Peter hurting Allison- who was so kind and so bright- was revolting to Derek. It made him so angry he actually had to retract his claws and take a deep breath.

After the first couple of emails, it became apparent how obsessed and...unwell Peter had been. Some of his final emails didn’t even make much sense. He talked about seeing things, smelling things. Including Derek. There might’ve been some truth to him smelling Derek around town, but Peter’s delusions were truly unsettling.

If only Derek had been there. What if Derek could’ve talked some sense into him? What if Derek could’ve gotten Peter some sort of psychological help? What if this was Derek’s fault?

He closed his laptop and buried his face in his hands for a sob, but tears never really came. His eyes felt too dry, too tired to cry. He was exhausted and overwhelmed. Though the feeling of guilt stayed with him, there was too much on his mind for him to cry the way his heart felt like crying. He needed to just sleep or something. He had to clear his head. So he deleted everything. Every text, every email. He’d hoped it would give him the same therapeutic satisfaction as cleaning his loft had, but it didn’t. So he did the last thing he could do for the night. He opened the mini fridge, turned on the tv, and drank until he fell asleep.

~

9:20PM

Deaton was waiting for them when they pulled up to his office. When Scott pulled the garbage bag off of Peter’s face, Deaton looked like he recognized him instantly.

“Who is he?” Scott asked.

“Peter Hale. At least we shouldn’t have a problem with anyone looking for him.”

“Really?” Allison asked as she helped Scott and Stiles re-adjust the bag over Peter’s head.

Deaton nodded. “He wasn’t a well-liked man. And his whole family died in a fire. All but one.”

“Who?” Lydia asked.

“Derek Hale. But he’s missing. No one’s seen him for about a year.” Deaton said.

Stiles sighed, “That’s not true,” he said, “We’ve seen him.”

~

9:30PM

Melissa and John sat on either end of the couch and watched tv in awkward silence.

“OH,” Melissa suddenly stood up, “I should finish cleaning up the stuff from dinner.”

She went to the kitchen and John followed to help her.

“You don’t have to stay. Really, I’m fine.” Melissa said.

“No, I insist. ...Unless you want me to leave--”

“No, no, it’s ok--”

“It’s just that after what happened to the boys, I thought... neither one of us should be alone.” John said.

Melissa smiled and took his hand in hers. She didn’t have to reach very far because at some point they’d gotten very close to one another.

“I never am alone.” she said.

John smiled back with soft eyes.

~

Deaton could only find two shovels so they had to take turns digging the hole for Peter’s body. While Scott and Stiles dug, Allison and Lydia were looking for sticks and branches. As deep into the woods as they were, you’d think it wouldn’t be so hard. But it was difficult to find dry branches because it had rained that morning.

“I just can’t believe it.” Allison said.

“That you killed someone?” Lydia said as she looked over a branch.

“No. Well, yeah. But I’m talking about Stiles’ dog. He was a _person_ the whole time. ...And I hit him with my car!”

“Deaton wasn’t kidding when he said that the guy must’ve been cursed. I mean, first he gets turned into a dog, then you run him over, and then you kill his uncle.”

“It’s gonna be so awkward if I ever see him again.” Allison said.

After a moment of silence, Lydia put her hand on Allison’s arm. “You’re not going to go around feeling guilty, are you? You did what you had to.”

“I… I know.” Allison said.

11PM

After everyone had taken a few turns digging, the hole was finally ready. They pushed Peter’s body inside along with the sticks. Deaton added some wolfsbane and poured the gasoline, then lit a match and dropped it. Everyone was so exhausted, but still they stood and watched the flames.

“Is it weird that I feel like we should say something?” Scott asked.

“Peter Hale. Your life sucked and we’re all sorry to hear that, but you were also a serial killer who went after my best friend, so good riddance.” Stiles said. He looked over at Scott “Does that suffice?”

“I think that pretty much sums it up.” Lydia said.

“You guys should go home.” Deaton said after he got back from putting the gasoline jug in the Jeep, “I can fill the hole back up when the fire is done. There’s no point in you all standing around here all night.”

“You sure?” Allison asked.

“Oh yeah. I don’t have any morning appointments. Go on. You’ve got school tomorrow.” he insisted.

They each thanked him and got in the Jeep. Deaton had driven in his own car, which was parked at the edge of the woods, so he’d have a somewhat long walk to get to it in the morning. But he’d be fine.

Stiles dropped off Lydia first, then Allison, then it was off to Scott’s house.

“You wanna spend the night?” Scott offered.

Stiles yawned. “Nah. Thanks, but I miss my bed. Plus I’m gonna have to throw out the dog stuff at some point anyway. May as well not avoid it.”

Scott nodded.

“Dude, why is my dad still here?” Stiles asked when he saw the squad car in Scott’s driveway.

“Dunno. I’ll let him know you went home, though.” Scott said as he got out of the Jeep.

“K. Night, man.”

“See ya.”

Stiles drove off and Scott went inside. The tv was still on, more specifically, the menu for the Pirates of the Caribbean dvd was playing. Melissa and John were both asleep on the couch, his arm around her shoulder, her head resting against him. Maybe a few years ago, Scott would’ve been grossed out. But at this point, he didn’t mind. It was actually kind of sweet. He quietly went upstairs and undressed. He didn’t even bother to put on pj’s before crashing.

~

August 13, 7AM

Stiles was sitting at his computer when his father knocked on the door.

“Hey,” John said as he came in and sat on the bed.

“How was the sleepover?” Stiles asked, not looking away from his computer.

John felt embarrassed and hoped his cheeks weren’t turning pink. “Uh, nothing- we just, uh, we fell asleep watching Pirates of the Caribbean.” he said.

“I can’t believe you. How could you do that to me?”

John’s eyes widened. “Stiles, I’m sorry. I had no idea you’d feel--”

“How could you watch Pirates of the Caribbean without me?” Stiles said, turning around to face him.

Relief washed over John when he realized what Stiles had said and saw his smile, even if it was just a small one. “Won’t happen again.” John chuckled.

Stiles smirked.

“So...I saw that the dog bowls are gone.”

The words made Stiles’ smile shrink and John regretted saying anything.

“I put the dog stuff in a bag and took it out to the garage. I would’ve thrown it away but…” _I couldn’t_ , “I just didn’t wanna waste. In case you get another dog someday.” Stiles said.

John nodded. “Good call.”

They sat there a minute before John started again. “Look, I can only imagine how you must be feeling. This is a shock- a very weird shock for all of us. But…” John tried so hard to find something comforting to say, “God, there’s just nothing to say, is there? I mean it’s just weird.”

“Exactly! It is what it is.” Stiles shrugged.

“I mean, a _person_ was living in our house and we didn’t even know it. Unless he had the mind of a dog too, which wouldn’t be as bad--”

“No, he was still a person on the inside. I talked to Deaton about it. He said that with curses like that, you’re self-aware because you have to change to break the curse.” Stiles said.

“What, like learning a lesson?” John asked.

“Yeah, something like that.”

They silently contemplated that for a minute, then John checked his watch. “You should get ready for school. If you’re gonna go. You can call in sick if you want.”

“No, I want to go.” Stiles said. He hadn’t slept and felt too tired for school, but after all the weirdness of the night before, he hoped that the routine of school would help ground him. He wanted some normalcy. For just a little while.

John left and Stiles started getting dressed. Just as he put a plaid shirt over his black tee, he got a text from Scott.

**You going to school today?**

**Yeah** , Stiles replied.

He hunched over his desk and saved the pages he’d been reading before closing the tabs. It wasn’t much. But it was all the information he could find on Derek Hale.

~

12PM

“You looked him up? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Scott said almost too loudly as he and Stiles sat down in the cafeteria.

“I don’t know, but I couldn’t sleep. And I...I can’t just let this go. I mean, the guy lived with me for a year. I have to know…”

“What?” Scott asked.

“...More.” Stiles said with a sigh. He really didn’t know what he was looking for. He just knew that he couldn’t just forget about it. “So do you think you could ask Deaton what he knows about the Hales? Please?”

Scott just stared at him for a minute, like he was thinking it over. “Sure, man. I’ll talk to him about it today.”

Stiles clapped his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “You. are the best, man.”

“I know.” Scott smiled.

Stiles looked around. “Where’s Allison?”

“I don’t know. Haven’t heard from her since last night.”

“Do you think she’s ok? After, you know…” Stiles gestured like he was shooting an arrow.

Scott shook his head “She’s trained for that kind of thing. And considering it was Peter, I don’t think she feels to bad. She’s probably just tired.”

“Yeah, probably. You gonna eat that?” Stiles pointed to Scott’s pudding.

Scott moved it to the other side of his tray. “Maybe.”

Stiles then proceeded to give him puppydog eyes until he gave it up.

~

8:30PM

Allison was sitting on her bed, looking through a photo album when Scott tapped on her window. She smiled when she saw him, but her eyes still looked troubled. She opened the window for him and he waved in that cute, awkward way he always acted with her.

“Hi.” he said.

“Hi.” she said, trying to look happy.

“I just thought I’d check on you since you weren’t in school and yesterday was kinda intense.”

Allison tucked some hair behind her ear. “Thanks.”

Scott could tell by the redness around her eyes and nostrils that she’d been crying recently. “What’s wrong?”

She took his hand and they sat on the bed together. She handed him the photo album and pointed to a picture of herself with an older blonde woman. “My Aunt Kate is dead. No one could get in touch with her, so the other day my dad drove up to her place and found her. It was Peter Hale.” she sniffled.

“How do you know?” Scott asked.

“That’s what I asked my dad this morning. He said Peter left a message. A symbol of the Hale family. And then he told me why.” she stopped to take a slow breath, obviously it was something that had been hard for her to hear, let alone talk about. “She killed Peter’s family. My aunt- one of my closest friends killed innocent people, some of them were kids.”

She took the album from Scott, closed it, and tossed it aside. Scott wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close.

“I’m so sorry, Ally.” he whispered.

Her breath shook and she sighed into his chest. “I’ll be fine. I just needed to take the day off.”

“I don’t blame you.” he said, gently running his fingers through her hair. They stayed like that in silence for a few minutes before he asked her “So did you tell your dad that Peter is dead?”

“I had to. I had to tell him why I got home so late. But I told him that Lydia and I were only stopping by your house so she could pick up a movie you borrowed. I’m not sure if he totally bought it, but he was too busy being proud of how I handled things to question it.”

“He should be proud. I’m proud of you too. You were brave.” Scott said before planting a kiss on her head.

“I don’t really want to be proud of it. I know it was the right thing, the only thing. But...I don’t want to be a killer, Scott.” she sounded so scared.

When Scott realized her meaning, he pulled back and tilted her chin up to look her in the eyes. “You’re never gonna end up like her.”

“But all those times she said I reminded her of herself--”

“You get to choose, Allison. If you don’t want to be like her, then you won’t. Ok?” His thumb stroked her cheek and she nodded. She hugged him and he held her tighter than he did before. “You’re not that person. I promise.”

~

11PM

“Well, that’s a lot to take in. Is she gonna be ok?” Stiles asked over Skype.

“Yeah. She seemed much better by the time I left.” Scott said.

Stiles nodded. “Good. ...God, I don’t think I even thank her.”

“You’ll get your chance. She said she’s going to school tomorrow. And speaking of people who helped save your life, Deaton didn’t have much information about Derek. He knew some stuff, but nothing that helpful. He played basketball in school, his family were good people, stuff like that.”

“Nothing about his whereabouts?”

Scott shook his head.

“Shit. I’ve gotta find out where he lives from someone. This guy’s not exactly in the phonebook.”

“Well, good luck with that. Deaton implied that he’s been kind of a loner since the fire.”

Stiles thought for a moment. “Maybe I could just go door to door until I find him.”

Scott laughed. “Are you sure it’s even a good idea to go looking for him?”

“I have to talk to him, Scott. I just can’t…”

“Let sleeping dogs lie?” Scott smirked.

“Shut up.” Stiles laughed, “Look, I hate to use you for intel and then run, but I’ve gotta do some last-minute homework before I crash.”

“Yeah, me too. Night.”

“Later.”

~

August 20, 5:30PM

Well. It was a pain in the ass, but after a week, Derek had finally gotten his loft in working order. Water, electricity, wifi, and use of his phone had all returned and the kitchen was full of fresh groceries. Things were finally starting to feel normal again. Except not quite. When you spend so much time away, the place you’re at becomes normal, and what was normal becomes “how it used to be.” But Derek decided that “how it used to be” would have to become normal again because there was no going back. Even if Stiles wouldn’t call the cops if he ever saw him again, there’s no way he was ever going to have what he wanted to have with Stiles. He wouldn’t get to spend every day with Stiles. He was never going to wake up next to him again. They’d never sit together in comfortable silence. Silence between them would always be awkward now. But even that wasn’t going to happen because he wasn’t going to see Stiles again. Stiles wasn’t going to be a fixture in his life anymore.

Derek understood what his transformation meant. He knew how he felt about Stiles. But he couldn’t admit it. He couldn’t act on it. He had to bury it. There was nothing else he could do. And the first phase of Mission Get Over Stiles Stilinski was to eat an early dinner (which should be delivered any minute), watch some movies, and try- _just try_ \- to not think about him for one night. Or at least an hour or so.

Now what was a movie that had absolutely no romantic plot or subplot? He scanned the shelves over and over and oh my god why does every movie have to have romance? Not everyone wants to see that shit. Finally, he found Alien, popped the dvd in, and sat down.

The buzzer went off followed by knocking. Chow time. Derek put down the remote and got up to answer the door. He lifted the door and started going through his wallet to pay.

“It’s 8.50, right?” he looked up at the guy in front of him and dropped his wallet.

_Stiles._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't totally obvious, I basically had Moondust (Jaymes Young) on repeat while I wrote this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Derek can't say no to Stiles, Stiles makes himself at home in Derek's loft, and there's some embarrassing semi-nudity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, guys! My internet screwed up for a couple of days.

“You’re a hard guy to find.” Stiles said.

_Shit shit fuck shit shitting fuck!_

The conflicting urges to run away and to grab Stiles and hug the shit out of him prevented Derek from moving in any direction at all. He was paralyzed. He shook himself out of it and quickly bent over to pick up his wallet.

“Maybe you should’ve tried driving around with Allison.” he quipped. _Oh god, did I really just say that?_

It was enough to make Stiles chuckle.

“I, um…. Can I…” Stiles’ eyes darted from Derek to his living room and back. And before Derek even thought about it, he was gesturing for Stiles to come in. This evening was not going as planned and despite being happy to see Stiles, he felt sick because he knew that sooner or later things were gonna go downhill.

Stiles looked around the living room as he walked toward the couch. He looked at everything like he was gathering information, but also like he was in awe that it even existed. Like looking at dinosaur exhibits in a museum. Derek’s voice tore him away from his thoughts.

“So how did you find me anyway?”

“It was kind of an accident, really,” Stiles was trying to act casual, “Lydia happened to see you come in here the other day.” He left out the part where he’d been searching for Derek all week and was just as frustrated as he was relieved when Lydia told him she found him by chance.

Derek hummed. “Well, I don’t have to ask why you’re here. You’ve got questions.” he said as he caught up to Stiles and they sat down on opposite ends of the couch.

“Yeah. I mean, Deaton told me you must’ve been cursed…” Derek nodded as Stiles continued, “but why?”

“The story isn’t really that interesting. I was a jerk. Not much else to it.”

Stiles decided he could find out the details later and skipped to the next question. “And you had to learn a lesson or change or something to break the curse, yeah? So...what was it?”

Derek took a breath. “I learned how to not be a jerk.” he briefly pursed his lips, “I just had to make a selfless act.” Well, that wasn’t exactly a lie. Just not the whole truth.

That’s when Stiles remembered the attack and that he should probably say something about it. “Thanks for that, by the way. ...And I’m sorry about your uncle.”

Derek’s eyes flitted down for a second at the mention of his uncle. “No need. Allison did the right thing. Peter was…” he shook his head, “there was nothing else to be done.”

Stiles nodded solemnly.

“So you know he was my uncle. What else do you already know?” Derek asked.

“Just the basics. Just what Deaton knows about your family. That you’re only a few years older than me. That you played basketball in school. That’s about it.”

“There’s not much else to know.” Derek knew that Stiles wouldn’t drop something if he found it interesting. He needed to make Stiles lose interest if he was going to keep him away. Even if that’s the last thing he really wanted.

“I refuse to believe that. Anyone who was cursed by a witch has to have an interesting life.” Stiles said, lips curling into a smile.

Time for a subject change. “What did you do with Peter’s body?”

“We burned and buried it with wolfsbane. Two or three miles into the woods. Deaton helped.” Stiles said.

Derek nodded and Stiles continued “Now quit avoiding my questions. Tell me about yourself.” he said, leaning forward with intrigue.

“Why do you want to know about me?” Derek shrugged.

“Because you lived with me for months, dude! You know all about me, but I know nothing about you. So it’s only fair that you answer my questions until I’m satisfied.” said Stiles.

Derek scoffed. “And I know you well enough to know that you’ll never be satisfied. You always have something to be curious about.” Derek had to try not to smile because, honestly, he loved that about Stiles.

“Then I guess you’re stuck with me.”

Oh god. That smirk. That smirk should not be legal. Derek needed to get Stiles out right now or he was going to kiss the smug smile right off his face. “Well, not tonight, I’m not.” Derek stood up and motioned for Stiles to follow him (which he did), “Because I’m expecting company and so you’re gonna have to go.” Derek said as he ushered Stiles to the door.

“Ok, but I’m coming back tomorrow.” Stiles said, turning around to face Derek from the doorway.

“And how do you know I even want you around?” Derek asked. He intended to sound like a jerk, but his voice box didn’t get the message and it sounded almost like flirting.

“Because your leg was healed. For _weeks_. You could’ve left at any time. But you didn’t.” Stiles smirked again, “Face it, Hale. You like me.” he grinned as he backed away, eventually turning around to leave. He sashayed away like he’d won something. Which, he kinda did since Derek had been so unfriendly toward him in the beginning.

Derek stood in the doorway a moment, watching Stiles round a corner. He was just about to turn around when Stiles came running back. For a second, Derek imagined Stiles colliding with him, cupping his jaw, and kissing him. But that daydream ended when Stiles stopped about a foot away from him.

“I totally forgot that we never actually introduced ourselves.” he said.

“Are you serious?” Derek frowned. _That is so cheesy._

“Yes, now don’t be rude.” Stiles extended his hand, “I’m Stiles.”

Derek reluctantly shook Stiles’ hand and tried to ignore how it felt to touch him. “Derek.”

“Nice to meet you.” Stiles said with a smile.

Derek’s chest may have swelled a little from the sincerity in Stiles’ voice. “It’s nice to meet you too.” he said with smile almost too small to be noticed.

“Well. Later.” Stiles waved over his shoulder as he turned around and left.

And that’s all it took. Just that brief conversation sent Derek’s plan to not spend the night thinking about Stiles flying out the window. He spent the rest of the evening obsessing over what he was going to do. Stiles was going to keep coming back. And he had no idea how to stop it. Or if he would have the willpower to even try.

He had a hard time falling asleep that night. He hadn’t slept well all week, actually. The same thing was wrong with both the hotel bed and his own. No Stiles. He’d tried piling pillows and blankets next to him to make it feel like someone was there, but it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t warm. It didn’t have Stiles’ scent or a heartbeat or occasionally mumble something in it’s sleep. It wasn’t enough. He needed Stiles-- _No_. He didn’t need Stiles. He couldn’t let himself need him. Stiles didn’t have any feelings for him. Stiles was just some guy- a kid, a seventeen year old kid whose dad was the sheriff, so Derek really needed to not need him unless he wanted to get his balls shot off.

But he was going to lose his mind if he didn’t get some sleep, so he decided to try one last idea. He took his blanket to the couch and laid down with his head near the spot where Stiles had been sitting earlier. It still smelled like him a little. Enough to soothe him. Was it kinda pathetic that Derek had to do this? Yes. But at least he was getting some sleep.

~

8PM

“The night of the attack, did you notice that Derek is freakishly good looking?” Stiles asked as soon as Scott answered the Skype call.

“Mostly, I just noticed that he was suddenly not a dog.” Scott said.

“Well, the guy look like he was sculpted during the classical period. I mean, who even looks like that?”

“You don’t have a crush on him now, do you?” Scott sounded a little weirded out.  
“Dude, no. I’ve only known him as my dog, so...ew. It’s just that he was being shy or something and didn’t give me any answers, so that’s basically all I know about him. He made me leave because someone was coming over, but he’s not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Who would even be coming to see him? He’s been gone a year and he has no family.” Scott wondered.

“Dunno. But speaking of his family, he was very understanding of the Peter thing.”

“Well, that’s good. Would’ve been pretty awkward if he wasn’t.” Scott said.

“Yeah.”

“How’d he react when he saw you?”

“Deer in the headlights. I don’t get why, though. I’m not the one who suddenly changed species.” Stiles said.

“Yeah, that’s weird. Did you happen to find out what color his eyes are?” Scott asked.

“Blue-ish/green-ish.”  
“No, I mean his wolf eyes.” said Scott.

“Oh. No.”

Stiles felt a little weird about his first reply. _Come on, Stiles, so the guy is good looking, you don’t have to obsess over it._  He decided to change the subject. “So...how do you feel about the test tomorrow?”

~

August 21, 5PM

When Derek opened the door, Stiles lifted a cd case- the one he kept his movies in- for Derek to see.

“I got to thinking last night and the Barbara Walters approach was a little awkward and just isn’t going to work. So I was thinking instead we could just...hang out?”

Derek should’ve said no. He could’ve done anything: say no, slam the door, say something really mean that would make Stiles hate him and leave. In fact, he’d been planning on doing something like that all day. But instead, because he was an idiot, all Derek could do when he saw Stiles’ face was say “Ok” and let him in.

Stiles had no trouble making himself at home, plopping right in the same spot he sat in the night before. Derek pursed his lips for a second because after he woke up with his face buried in the cushions that morning, he febreezed that spot about a dozen times throughout the day to get rid of Stiles’ scent. Because the last thing he needed was to be clinging to couch cushions trying to get a fix. And now that was all for nothing. He should’ve known.

“So what sounds good?” Stiles asked, opening up the case.

Derek already knew what most of Stiles’ collection was, so he didn’t even have to look at the case. “Action. Maybe superhero or something like that.” He said as he turned on the tv.

“How about Ninja Turtles?” Stiles suggested.

“The one from the ‘90s?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure.”

Stiles handed him the disc and sat back while Derek got the movie started.

“Dude. No offense or anything, but your couch smells like a febreze factory puked on it. Doesn't all that room spray drive your wolf senses crazy? Scott can barely stand the stuff.”

“It...was an accident. I set the bottle down and it started leaking.” Derek said.

Stiles made a face like he wasn't sure if that made any sense, but he dropped it.

After the first twenty minutes of the movie, Derek started feeling more relaxed. It kinda felt like old times. Except that now when Stiles said something, Derek was usually expected to answer. Usually Stiles would just provide a little commentary or ask relevant questions like “which turtle is your favorite?” or “can you believe Megan Fox is playing April? I mean, seriously?” But every now and again he’d ask something random like “what’s your favorite color?” The answer was blue. Apparently, Stiles’ was green.

After the movie ended, Stiles lazily rolled his head, which was resting back against the couch, to look at Derek. “Got any food?”

“Pasta?”

“Pasta.” Stiles agreed.

Derek got up and went to it.

“Need any help?” Stiles called.

“Nah, it’s fine. Do whatever. Start another movie or something.” Derek honestly just needed a break. After all his time in the Stilinski house, after all the times he laid down close to Stiles in front of the tv, it took effort for Derek to stay on the opposite side of the couch. It was actually kind of tiring constantly resisting the temptation to get closer. Deep down, he was a cuddler and he chastised himself for it. At least putting some distance between them and not having to look at Stiles made him feel a little better.

After Derek had been in the kitchen a minute, Stiles got up and started walking around. At first he wondered why there were so few personal things and no family photos. Then it clicked. He decided to start scanning Derek’s collection of dvds and cds.

I’m not snooping. Investigation just runs in the family, Stiles thought. Besides, this was a quick way to learn some things about Derek without bugging him with a million questions.

His movie collection was mostly action, but it was always action with substance. No Michael Bay. There was some comedy, but almost no romcoms. He owned all the Avengers’ movies and had them all together on a shelf. And he had pretty much every Christopher Nolan movie in existence. His movie taste wasn’t actually that different from Stiles’. Except Stiles had more comedy.

Derek’s cds were more telling. In Stiles’ mind anyway. Classic rock, The National, Coldplay, The Fray, The August Rush soundtrack(?).

It was Derek’s books that kind of surprised him the most, though. He didn't exactly have expectations for Derek’s bookshelf, but he didn't think that two thirds of it would be history either. From the Etruscans to the second world war, from the Americas to Japan, this guy loved history. He couldn't see anything that was obviously about the supernatural. But he spotted a stack of books on the bottom that had nothing on their covers. They each looked really old, but Stiles didn't see a copyright to find out their age when he opened one. But what he did find was information on the supernatural that actually seemed legit. A nice refresher from the New Age section at Books-A-Million. Considering how fragile the binding was, Stiles knew he should put the book back, but once he started reading, he got lost in it. He learned more from the first two chapters of that book than he’d learned from hours upon hours of scouring the internet.

“We pass those down in my family.” Stiles jumped when Derek spoke.

“Sorry.” Stiles carefully put the book back.

“It’s ok.” Derek set two bowls of pasta on the coffee table, then approached Stiles. “You can borrow them sometime. They’ll be really useful to you.” He picked up the book Stiles had been reading, “Just be careful.”

Stiles nodded “Yeah, of course.”

“My family wrote these. Generations add to the collection.” Derek said, flipping through the book. His mother had just finished her part before the fire, and fortunately, the book wasn't at the house when it burned down. It was in the vault with the others. Talia’s book was one of few things Derek had left of her. He often read through it when he needed comforting. His mother’s wisdom was somehow soothing to him.

“And one day, it’ll be your turn?” Stiles asked. Derek’s lip twitched as he nodded, still looking down at the book. “And then your kids?” Stiles continued. Derek’s face dropped and he let the book close. In Derek’s mind, he didn't really have a shot at having a family. He’d never had much luck with relationships. And pining over Stiles certainly wasn't going to help. He pushed the thought aside as he handed the book back to Stiles.

“Did you ever pick a movie?” Derek asked.

“One of the Avengers?”

“Which one?”

“Who’s your favorite?”

“Iron Man it is.” Derek said, plucking the dvd from its shelf.

Thirty minutes later, the sound of Stiles’ fork clanking in his bowl startled Derek.

“Oh my god.” Stiles blurted.

“What?”

“You ate dog food.”

“Yup.” Derek said flatly.

“For, like, months.”

“Yes, Stiles, I remember.” Derek said with a twinge of bitterness.

Several seconds of silence went by.

“For twenty bucks--”

“NO. Never again.” Derek said. And Stiles didn't dare try to persuade him.

~

September 4, 4:30PM

Over the last couple of weeks, Stiles had developed a habit of coming over without any notice. Of course, he had no way to give Derek notice, but it was still slightly annoying. But the last straw was when Stiles just waltzed in and found Derek walking around in a towel, fresh from a shower.

“Oh, my god!” Stiles covered his eyes. Derek jumped and grabbed his towel to make sure it stayed on.

“Jesus, Stiles! What the fuck?!”

“I’m sorry! I knocked, but there was no answer and it was unlocked!”

“You don’t just--” Derek stomped over to Stiles, “Dammit, give me your phone.” he ordered, reaching out for it. Stiles gave it to him and Derek quickly typed something in. “Give notice. Like, at least twenty minutes in advance. Unless it’s an emergency.” Derek gave the phone back.

Stiles blinked at the phone, almost looked a bit shocked to see Derek’s number. “Can I- Do you text? Can I text you?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Derek turned around and walked toward his room. Stiles couldn't help but notice that Derek’s towel was riding a little low and he could see the curve where Derek’s back met his ass and _Oh._ Stiles would not be able to get that image out of his head. And he didn't particularly want to. When Derek next spoke, Stiles jerked his head and looked away. Luckily, he hadn’t been caught staring.

“Wait in the living room, I’m gonna get dressed.”

Stiles hurried off and went to the window to look outside.

Derek zipped up his jeans and was about to put on his shirt when he got a text.

**Who even showers in the middle of the afternoon, anyway? -Stiles**

Derek smirked. He added Stiles’ number to his contacts, tugged the t-shirt over his head, and joined Stiles in the living room. With the way Stiles looked as he stared out the window, Derek had to stop for a minute just to look at him. The sunlight hitting his skin was soft and golden. It shined through his whiskey colored eyes and made them bright. He looked thoughtful. Peaceful.

“People who just got done job hunting all day and want to relax.” Derek finally said to answer Stiles’ text.

“Oh.” Stiles turned his gaze from the window to Derek. “How’d that go?”

Derek groaned and rolled his eyes back in response, which was answer enough. “So what’d you come over for?” Derek asked.

“Nothing really. I just--” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, crumpled piece of paper, “I have a coupon that expires tomorrow. Do you wanna go bowling?”

Derek hadn't gone bowling since high school. He hadn't planned on going out that night, but maybe it would help them forget about how Stiles had walked in on him. “Sure.”

“Where’s your Jeep?” Derek asked, looking around when they got outside.

“I walked.” Stiles said.

“You did that so you could ride in the Camaro, didn't you?”

“No, I did it for my health-- of course I wanna ride in the Camaro!”

Derek chuckled. “Come on, then. Let’s go.”

The only way to describe Stiles during the ride to the bowling alley is “giddy.” Seriously. Practically bouncing in his seat with a stupidly huge grin giddy. No one else he knew had a car this cool.

“Ok, but be real, dude. What did you miss more when you were a dog? This car or chocolate?” Stiles asked.

“The car.”

“More than showers?”

“Maybe sometimes.”

“Sex?”

“Uh, no, not really.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you.” There was a moment of silence that was more awkward for Derek than it was for Stiles.

“It’s too quiet, let’s get some tunes!” Stiles turned on the radio. At first Derek was gonna tell him not to mess with stuff, but his scowl disappeared when Stiles sang(?) along with the radio.

_YOU GOTTA FIGHT_

_FOR YOUR RIGHT_

“TO PAAAAAARRTY!” Stiles shouted, he started banging his head to the beat.

Stiles grinned triumphantly when he saw the huge smile on Derek’s face. He wasn't sure he’d ever seen him smile like that before. A smile so wide, lines appeared around his eyes. And something in Stiles made him want to make Derek smile like that again. To make him smile like that every day.

 

~

 

Stiles slayed that night. However clumsy he was doing any other activity, his bowling skills were damn near graceful. He was a pro. And a gloater.

“OOOOH! Three strikes in a row! You can’t defeat me, old man!” he boasted.

“I’m only five years older than you. And I haven’t played in at least that long.” Derek said, giving Stiles a playful shove with his elbow as he walked passed him to take his turn.

While Derek was knocking down a total of six pins, Stiles went up to the counter to get some nachos. He was about to turn around and return to Derek when he saw Scott, Allison, Boyd, and Erica come in.

“Hey.” He smiled as he approached them.

“Hey, man. I didn't know you were coming here. I would've invited you.” Scott said.

“Nah, it’s ok. This looks like a double date, anyway. I would've been a fifth wheel.”

“You’re here by yourself?” Allison asked.

“I’m here with Derek.” said Stiles.

“So now it’s a triple date.” Erica said, raising an eyebrow.

Stiles made a  chuckling sound that was meant to be sarcastic, but came out sounding a little nervous. “No. He’s a friend. It’s so not a date.”

Boyd and Erica each gave him a disbelieving look. It’s scary how in-tune with each other those two could be.

Derek turned around to see what was taking Stiles so long. He felt a little disappointed to see Stiles’ friends coming, but then he realized it was a good thing. This wasn’t a date. And he couldn’t let himself pretend it was.

“Derek, this is Erica and Boyd,” Stiles said, pointing to each of them, “and you already know Allison and Scott. Guys, this is Derek. I invited them to hang out with us.” he said, then he passed Derek to pick up his ball.

“Hope you don’t mind.” Erica sing-songed, which made Boyd smirk.

_Whatever that's about._

“Of course not.” Derek said.

Oddly enough, the evening wasn't that awkward. Everyone was friendly and inclusive of Derek. No one looked at him funny or treated him like “that guy who was a dog”. He was a part of things. Normal. Like they’d done this before. Sometimes they’d say things like they already knew stuff about him. It made Derek wonder just how much Stiles talked about him to other people. He tried not to obsess over it.

After a while, Derek asked Scott for Deaton’s number, just in case he needed some advice. This resulted in everyone exchanging numbers with him.

“There. You’re one of us now.” Erica said when she typed hers in.

The only awkwardness was between him and Allison. There was a lot they hadn't said to each other. And when Allison got up to go get a pretzel, Derek decided it was time to resolve it. Plus, he wanted a soda.

“Allison.” he said when he got to the counter.

“Yeah?” she gave an awkward half smile.

“I just want you to know... there’s no bad blood between us. And… Stiles told me about Kate. I’m sorry.” Derek wasn't sorry for Kate at all. But he knew what it was like to find out the horrible things a close relative has done.

“I’m sorry about your whole family.” Allison said as if she found it laughable that Derek could ever feel sorry for her.

“That wasn't your fault.”

“Yeah, but still. And I’m sorry about Peter.” she said.

“Don’t be. You did the right thing.”

Allison nodded, still looking at the floor. “And while I’m at it...I’m sorry I hit you with my car.”

Derek chuckled. “You already apologized for that on the fourth of July, remember?”

She looked up at him and his smile made her smile back.

He paid for her pretzel, then continued, “Like I said, we’re fine.”

“Thanks.” she said.

When they returned to the others, Boyd had his arms around Erica, showing her how to improve her throws. She had the smuggest grin on her face.

“She’s cheating!” Scott said.

“She’s using you, man!” Stiles called out to Boyd.

Just as Erica was swinging the ball, Boyd pinched her side, making her practically drop it as she flailed. As intimidating as Erica could be, Boyd knew she was also extremely ticklish. Everyone burst into laughter and for the rest of the night they teased her, saying she deserved that gutter-ball.

 

~

 

“I can’t believe you got less points than Scott. I mean, Scott. Scott’s a terrible bowler!” Stiles said as they drove through his neighborhood a couple of hours later.

“Maybe I let you win.” Derek said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when you beat me.” Stiles said. Derek stopped the car in front of Stiles’ house.

“I’m glad you talked to Allison. She looked like she felt a lot better afterward.” Stiles said.

Derek nodded. “I just told her that everything is in the past and that we’re friends.”

“Good. I think she needed that.”

“Yeah.”

There were a few seconds of silence. “That was the first time we’ve hung out outside your loft.” Stiles said.

“Yeah. It was fun.”

“We’ll have to do it again.” Stiles said. Derek hummed in response.

There was another moment of silence and Derek had a flashback to every teen movie ever. The couple is in the car after a night of fun. They lean in and kiss. Then the driver quickly leaves after their date goes inside, hoping that their date’s father didn’t see. Headlights glaring in his rear view mirror snapped him out of that thought.

“That’s my dad.” Stiles said, “I guess I’ll see you later.” he almost sounded sad to go.

“Yeah. Goodnight.” Derek tried not to sound disappointed.

“Night.” Stiles said as he got out of the car.

As he watched Stiles walk to the door, Derek realized something. That night had pretty much solidified things. Stiles wasn’t going anywhere. They were friends. And Derek was tired of trying (or at least telling himself he was trying) to push Stiles away.

_Fuck it._

If Stiles wanted him in his life, he would be there. To be a friend, to protect him, whatever he needed. Even if it hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some things to come:  
> Kidnapping  
> Stiles ogling Derek  
> Pranks  
> And a trip to Disneyland  
> (Not in that order)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think I left forever?   
> Ugh. I am so sorry. I kinda suck at life and really have no excuse for how long it has taken me to update this. I just got depressed and lazy and couldn't really write.   
> Anyway, I hope you guys like this chapter. It's kinda a majorly important one.   
> And also, you might need this map to help you visualize things better: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/map/#/id=disneyland-monorail/

September 6, 1:30PM

Stiles: **You are cordially invited to my b-day.**

Derek: **Where? When?**

Stiles: **My place. The 8th. We leave for Disney @12 but come earlier.**

Derek: **Sounds good.**

Stiles: **:)**

Derek: **Stop texting in class.**

Stiles: **Sir, yes, sir.**

Derek smirked. It was a little last minute, but he didn’t have anything better to do. Or anything else at all.

~

September 8, 10:30AM

Stiles had seen the black Camaro pull up from his bedroom window. He was already in the living room, walking toward the door when Derek started knocking. Derek’s hands were retreating into his pockets when Stiles opened the door.

“Hi.” Stiles gave a big smile.

“Hi. You said to come over whenever so I hope this is ok.”

“Yeah, dude, it’s fine.” Stiles closed the door behind Derek. “There’s not much to do around here. Wanna play Mario Kart till the others get here?”

“You’re on.” Derek said.

When Derek entered Stiles’ room, he had to pause. He looked around and inhaled deeply. The entire room smelled like Stiles. It felt more like home than his own loft. Derek looked around the familiar place while Stiles searched for the game. It was strange to see the room from this perspective (about four feet higher from the ground). His eyes found the bed and he remembered all the nights he’d slept there next to Stiles. When Stiles turned around with the game in hand, he saw Derek staring at the bed, lost in thought. Stiles often thought about how they used to share the bed. He thought about thanking Derek for comforting him after the nightmares, but that’d made things awkward. He wondered if those nights meant anything to Derek. To snuggle up with a dog is nothing strange. But Derek wasn’t really a dog. Though Stiles hadn’t known it at the time, he was cuddling and sleeping with a person. That’s intimacy. And he missed it. Though he definitely wasn’t going to say that to Derek.

“The console is downstairs.” Stiles said.

Derek quickly looked up at him. “Ok.”

Stiles tried to act like he hadn’t noticed Derek staring at the bed, but Derek knew better. Still, neither of them dared to say anything.

Derek hadn’t played Mario Kart before. He was more of a CoD kind of guy, if anything. But he’d seen Stiles and Scott play enough to have a general idea of what to do. About twenty minutes into their game, Stiles’ dad came home.

“Hey, Derek.” he said on his way to get a water from the fridge.

Derek turned away from the screen to look at John, which doomed him and Princess Peach to crash. “Hi. Hope you don’t mind my being here.”

John made a face Derek couldn’t quite read. “Of course not. It’s good to see you.” he said.

After that, people started arriving one or two at a time. Scott and Allison, Lydia, Isaac, Kira, Erica and Boyd. Scott’s mom was the last to arrive because she had to pick up lunch first.

Before Melissa arrived, John called Stiles to help set the table and get things ready. Meanwhile, the others almost managed to rope Derek into a sort of Mario Kart tournament.

First, Scott beat Derek so efficiently it was like Derek hadn’t even been playing. But Derek was kind of grateful to escape because this really wasn’t his thing. Then Scott beat Isaac, who is, surprisingly, one of those people who talks to games and lets swears spill out of his mouth when things go downhill. Scott was finally defeated by Erica, who smirked and claimed it was like “playing against a toddler.” And then it was Kira’s turn. Kira would sway and move her arms while she played as if that would help her somehow, and that was entertaining to watch. She did pretty well considering she said she wasn’t much of a gamer, but ultimately she did lose to Erica. In the end, Allison’s competitiveness beat Erica’s by a hair’s width. It was actually a little intense. Or at least it was enough to have everyone’s eyes glued to the screen, including Derek’s.

Boyd and Lydia didn’t play. They just sat on the couch and watched quietly, occasionally looking amused by whatever was happening.

Stiles had somehow managed to weave paper towels together into a wreath, and made trumpet sounds as he placed it onto Allison’s head.

“Chow time!” Melissa said as she set the bags of burgers, fries, onion rings, and at least three other ways to give yourself a heart attack on the table.

Despite having plenty of time to eat, everyone was finished within thirty minutes. Apparently no one had outgrown getting excited about Disneyland. Melissa started to get up to help John clean, but Derek stood first and stopped her.

“I got it. You did the shopping, I’ll do this.” he said, following John to the kitchen.

It was an easy clean-up. Just putting condiments and leftovers in the fridge, putting glasses in the sink, and throwing away trash. After throwing something away, John stopped next to Derek, who was rinsing out cups.

“Derek,” he said quietly, then pausing to look for the right words “Thank you.”

“Not a big deal, you just swish a little water around and put it in the washer.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Derek looked up and met John’s gaze. He’d known what John was talking about but he wasn’t sure what to say. And maybe a little scared that if he opened his mouth, he’d say something stupid like ‘well of course I saved your son’s life, I’m kinda in love with him.’

“You could’ve been killed.” John continued, “And I don’t think I can ever thank or repay you enough because… I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

_Me neither._

Derek inhaled deeply, trying to find the least idiotic thing to say. “I didn’t even think about it really. I just…”

“Family.”

Derek could hardly believe the look of understanding and acceptance on John’s face. It was enough to make him want to hug the man. But that would be a step too far.

“Yeah.” Derek said. It was almost a whisper. Maybe a promise.

“We’re leaving without you, if you don’t hurry up.” Stiles joked, poking his head into the kitchen.

“Well, you’re not gonna get too far without any money or tickets.” John said.

~

Everyone made their way outside, Derek and John being the last ones out. There was a large rental van at the curb. Melissa must’ve brought it over. While everyone debated on where to sit, Derek pulled Stiles aside.

“I got something for you.” he said when they reached the Camaro.

“Aw, dude, you didn’t have to. You’re not even supposed to be paying for your own ticket.” Stiles said.

“I told you, it’s fine.” Derek reached into the back seat and pulled out a small box. The wrapping paper wasn’t tidy enough for it to have been giftwrapped. Stiles inwardly chuckled at the image of Derek fumbling with wrapping paper and ribbons. Never one to deny himself the pleasure of ripping wrapping paper, he tore the package open to find a new ipod touch.

“Sweet!”

“It’s got all the songs I could remember you having on your old one. And there’s some recommendations on there. Albums, movies, some episodes of Castle.”

Stiles mouth fell open. “Dude, that must’ve cost so much.”

Derek shrugged. “I’ve got money. And a job now. It’s nothing.”

“You got hired?”

“Yeah. The garage downtown called me yesterday.”

“Stiles, your dad said if you don’t hurry, we’re leaving without you.” Scott interrupted.

Stiles looked over to see his dad wearing a smirk in the driver’s seat of the van.

“Ha. All right, we’re coming.” Stiles said.

They followed Scott back to the van. Stiles stopped before climbing into it.

“Oh, and thanks.” he smiled at Derek.

“You’re welcome.” Derek smiled back.

Erica and Boyd were in the very back- obviously a strategic move, saying as they couldn’t go without touching each other for five seconds. Lydia, Allison, and Scott were in the next row. Kira and Isaac were in the front row, and obviously Melissa was in the front seat with the cooler between her and John’s seat. Derek crawled in and sat at a friendly distance from Stiles. Just far enough that if he stretched his arm, it wouldn’t land around Stiles’ shoulder.

Every now and again a conversation topic would take over the entire van, but for the most part each row had their own thing going on. Which left Derek feeling horribly awkward. It was like being trapped in a bubble with someone. Someone you want to kiss, but can’t. Someone who’s got their nose stuck in their new ipod as if there won’t be time to play with it later. At least he liked the present. Granted if the situation was different, Derek would give Stiles an entirely different kind of present, but he really couldn’t think about that right now because the last thing he needed was for one of the other wolves to smell arousal on him.

Pack business distracted Derek for a moment. The whole van began discussing an odd scent that Isaac caught downtown, but couldn’t identify. And the bizarre symbol Boyd found carved on a tree at the edge of the woods (he was there to set up a picnic for himself and Erica, which was adorable). But the conversation didn’t get too far. John put an end to it, saying that it was a fun, no-supernatural-business day. It got pretty quiet for a little while after that- everyone obviously still thinking about the strange symbol.

Derek was staring out the window when Stiles suddenly scooted close to him and wordlessly offered him an earbud. An episode of Castle was ready to go on the ipod. So much for staying at a friendly distance. Derek put the earbud in and huddled with Stiles to watch. It felt good to be so close to Stiles again. And to know that Stiles was ok with being so close to him. It took more control to keep himself from putting an arm around Stiles or nuzzling him, but it was worth it.

By some miracle, the ride went by with only one embarrassing incident. Derek turned his head to sneak a glance at Stiles at just the wrong moment, because John had to slam on the breaks so not to run a read light, and Derek’s face smooshed right into Stiles’ cheek. Stiles didn’t think anything of it, but Derek had to put serious effort into not turning pink and assure himself that it wasn’t a kiss or even an accidental kiss, that Stiles wasn’t acting weird so he shouldn’t either.

~

A couple of hours, traffic jams, and episodes later, they arrived and everyone spilled out of the van. From the outside, it probably looked like the vehicle was puking teens because everyone rushed out to stretch their legs.

When Derek stretched his arms upward, his shirt lifted up a bit and the trail of hair led down into his jeans caught Stiles’ attention. But Stiles didn’t have time to really think about it before Lydia linked her arm with his and guided him to the trolley that would take them to the park’s entrance.

On the trolley, Derek wound up sitting a few rows behind Stiles, who was sitting with Kira and Lydia, chatting about some party coming up. He felt the loss of close contact with Stiles, but tried not to mope. At least the entire left side of his body was drenched in Stiles’ scent. But he still seriously hoped the rest of the day wouldn’t be like this. _Derek Hale, are you pouting?_ He could practically hear Laura tease if she were there to see him. Isaac’s voice tore him from his thoughts and unintentional eavesdropping.

“So Stiles said you played basketball in high school?”

“Yeah. And you’re on the lacrosse team, right? Isaac?”

“Yup.” Isaac nodded.

“Yeah, Stiles has told me a lot about you.”

“Really?” Derek nodded. “Same to you.”  Isaac said.

And apparently that was the end of the conversation.

When it came time to purchase the tickets, Derek was practically shoving his money into John’s hands, trying to convince him that he should pay for his own ticket. But John wouldn’t be swayed. He won the debate when Melissa chimed in. “Are you arguing with the Sheriff?”

Derek sighed and let John pay. “That’s cheating.” Derek said, pointing a finger at her.

“I feel ya, man.” Stiles added. The Sheriff card had been played many-a-time over the years.

 _Wow, they really have been saving up for this for a year,_  Derek thought when he saw that the Park Hopper tickets cost an extra $40 each. Stiles had told him the other night that between the efforts of himself and his dad, and Melissa’s help, they’d managed to save almost $2000. Considering the cost of the van and the tickets wiped out most of that, it was more than fair that everyone had to bring their own money for food and souvenirs. Derek decided that even if he had to steal John’s wallet and put some money in it, he was going to pay him back.

“Lydia said the party is gonna be huge.” Stiles said to Scott as they approached the Disneyland entrance.

Lydia paused her conversation with Kira to lean over toward Scott and Stiles. “The only rule is that you have to come in either a costume or a mask.” she said.  

“Got it. I’ll come up with something.” Scott said.

Allison looped her arm around Scott’s. “Are you going with me?”

Before Scott could reply, Stiles grabbed his other arm. “No, he’s mine, I have no date.”

The word ‘date’ caught Derek’s attention and this time the eavesdropping was totally intentional.

“Man stealer.” Allison said. Stiles stuck his tongue out at her.

 _How mature_ , Derek thought.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, Stiles. I don’t have a date either.” Kira said, “We can be dance partners, if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t want him for a dance partner. Unless you want to co-star in an embarrassing youtube video.” Scott teased.

“Or get injured.” Lydia added.

“Wow, I have such nice friends.” Stiles said, nudging Scott with his elbow.

“All right. The plan is to leave at midnight, unless we just can’t stand to walk around anymore.” Melissa said as she handed out maps to everyone, “It’s 4:30 now and we’re meeting up for dinner at 7:30. We can text each other our votes for where to eat around then. Ok?”

Everyone nodded and murmured in agreement, then began looking for the first attraction. As they became more immersed with the crowds of people, the pack created a sort of formation. John and Melissa were off to the side talking about whatever. At first, Isaac was with Erica and Boyd, but as usual, they were kind of in their own world so he moved closer to Kira, Lydia, and Allison. Scott and Stiles paired up, naturally, and Derek decided to stick with them and hopefully not be a third wheel.

“Obviously, Pirates of the Caribbean is a must.” Scott said as they discussed their to-do list for the day.

“And Space Mountain.” Stiles added.

“And Thunder Mountain.”

“Pretty much every mountain.” Stiles made a sweeping gesture with his hands. “Where do you wanna go?” he asked Derek.

“Well, it’s not a ride, but there’s Innoventions.” Derek said.

“Dude! Yes! Iron Man!”

“And the River Run over in the Adventure Park.” Derek continued.

“Sounds good.” Scott grinned.

First stop was Tomorrowland, just to their right when they reached the end of Main Street. Everyone went on Space Mountain, which was pretty awesome. The great thing about rides is that even when Derek had to sit next to someone other than Stiles, it wasn’t so awkward because he didn’t need to talk to each other. Though Derek did hope to get more comfortable with Stiles’ friends during the trip.  

After Space Mountain, people began splitting up. Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Kira, and Lydia went on the  Matterhorn Bobsleds. Melissa and John went to Autopia. Derek went with Stiles, Allison, and Scott to Innoventions. When they got to Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters after that, they found Lydia and Kira. The ride was two people per cart, and Derek was surprised when Lydia sat next to him instead of Kira or...anyone else. Allison and Kira paired up in front of them, and Stiles and Scott were behind. Considering how serious Lydia seemed to be most of the time, it was a nice surprise to see her get really into the game, laughing and grinning the whole way through. That may have partly been Stiles’ doing. His enthusiasm was contagious.

At one point Stiles slapped his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I’ve got your back, man!” he said, then shot at an alien.

“Two o’clock!” Derek blurted, swiveling to shoot an alien on Lydia’s side of the car.

“Good work, Captain.” Lydia said.

“Why does he get to be Captain?” Scott asked.

“Because I’m the oldest.” Derek replied. He knew he just opened himself up to a whole lot of old man jokes, but he didn’t care at the moment.

**~**

After Star Tours (which was enough to make Scott promise to watch Star Wars with Stiles that weekend), they found Isaac, Boyd, and Erica near the Astro Orbiter.

“Where to?” Allison asked.

“Well, I think we’ve done just about everything here, I’m ready to move on.” Kira said.

“Would you say you’re _spaced out?_ ” Stiles grinned.   
‘Wow. That might actually be your worst pun yet.” Derek said.

Stiles mock gasped. “I will have you know that I am the Pun King. Captain.”

Derek gave Stiles a look.

“How was the bobsled thing?” Scott asked no one in particular.

“Kinda underwhelming.” Erica said.

“How about Frontierland?” Lydia suggested. Everyone agreed and started walking toward Cinderella’s castle, which sat between the two sections of the park.

When they reached the circle at the end of Main Street, in front of the castle, everyone stopped so Allison and Kira could get pictures with some nearby princesses. The boys and Erica pretty much just stood around while Lydia texted someone. Derek spotted Isaac whispering in Stiles’ ear and making him glance at Derek and laugh loudly.

“What?” Derek asked.

Isaac bit his lip and chuckled while Stiles explained. “He said that you should get a picture with Gaston over there and flex.”

“No.”

“I dare you.” Stiles said.

“No.”

“It’s too late, I already dared you! There were witnesses!”

Derek looked around for someone to back him up, but the smiles on Scott, Erica, and Lydia’s faces showed that they were siding with Stiles.

“Boyd?” Derek started.   
“Hey, man, a dare is a dare.” he smiled and crossed his arms.

The bulge of Boyd’s biceps gave Derek an idea. “Fine. But you’re doing it with me.”

Boyd’s smile vanished. “Wha-”

“I dare you.” Derek said.

“But-”

“A dare is a dare.” Lydia said.

Derek smiled smugly at Boyd.

“Ok, then.” Boyd said.   
“That’s the spirit!” Erica said, beginning to escort the two boys toward Gaston. About that time, Kira and Allison returned and followed everyone to the spot where Gaston stood.

This was probably the most embarrassing thing Derek had done in a while. But embarrassing in the good way. It would become one of those things that he’d pretend to resent Stiles for, but actually think of fondly. Boyd stood on Gaston’s left and Derek was on his right. They all  flexed and grinned, the boys tried not to laugh when Erica whistled. Everyone had their phones out for this. There was no way those pictures were getting deleted. And they would probably be all over the internet in seconds.

“No one flexes like Gaston!” Gaston said proudly when they showed him the picture on Scott’s phone.

Derek’s phone buzzed. He opened the message to find that Stiles sent him a copy of the picture. He looked up to see Stiles giving smiling at him from the corner of his eye.

“And now it’s your turn.” Derek said, pointing at him.

Before Stiles could even protest, everyone was agreeing with Derek and pushing him, as well as Scott and Stiles, toward Gaston. The boys rolled up their sleeves and let everyone have their fun taking pictures. Stiles and Scott did it with enormous grins and hammy attitudes. Isaac was a bit more shy, but equally adorable.

“Happy now that you’ve got your revenge?” Stiles asked Derek as they walked toward Frontierland.

“Yes, even though you liked it. And you know it could’ve been worse.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yup. I could’ve waited till we were at dinner and told one of the waiters that it’s your birthday. Actually, I might still do that.” Derek said.

“You wouldn’t.”

Derek looked at him, “Oh, but I would.” He winked with a grin, something predatory in his eyes that made Stiles cheeks burn.

 

**~**

 

After riding the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Erica and Boyd left for the Mark Twain Riverboat. Scott, Lydia, and Kira decided to head toward the Haunted Mansion. Derek and the others decided to hang back take a break before trying another ride.

“I wanna try that shooting thing we passed by on the way in here.” Isaac said.

“Ooh! Good idea.” Stiles said. Derek tagged along, of course.

Isaac won a small stuffed bear. He smiled and muttered something about it being perfect. He obviously planned to give it to someone, but Stiles couldn’t get him to say who. When Stiles won a stuffie, he turned toward Derek and saw him giving a huge stuffed giraffe that he won to a little girl. And ok that was the cutest thing Stiles had ever seen ever. He may have made a quiet squeal-like sound in his throat.

While Derek waved goodbye to the little girl, who was gleefully skipping off with her parents, Stiles tapped his shoulder.

"You made a friend." Stiles said when Derek turned around.

"Yeah. Her mom was shooting next to me and she just started telling me about all the rides they've been on."

 

"That's really cute." Stiles said, then he remembered the stuffed wolf in his hands and presented it to Derek. “I got you a prize.” He said.

“Ha ha.” Derek said as he accepted it. “Thanks,” he smiled and stuffed the small thing in his pocket. It was small enough to fit, but just big enough to have its head poked out.

“Hey, birthday boy- er- man!” Melissa said as they approached.

“Boy. Still a boy.” Derek heard John mutter.

“Hey!” Stiles said to Melissa. “Where’ve ya been?” he asked the practically-a-couple.

“We checked out Fantasyland, followed the road to Big Thunder Mountain, rode that, then spotted you.” John said.

“And now I think we’re heading for…” Melissa checked her map, “the Jungle Cruise.”

John nodded.

“Aw, cool. That’s on the way to Pirates of the Caribbean, we should walk together.” Stiles said.

As they started walking toward the Jungle Cruise, Stiles spotted a little kid wearing a dress like Belle’s from Beauty and the Beast.

“I think we have just enough time for one more ride before we should text the others about dinner.” Isaac said.

“Yeah, I think so.” John agreed.

They began discussing which places sounded appetizing, but Stiles wasn’t really paying attention. His mind was wandering. It wandered from the little girl’s dress to Beauty and the Beast to the photo op with Gaston and back to the movie itself again. He loved that one as a little kid. But the only one who knew that at the time was Scott because he didn’t want everyone in his second grade class to know that he liked a _princess_ movie. He loved Belle and the talking candle, and even at a young age, he could appreciate the animation. Especially the opening scene, which was stylized like a stained glass window.

_The prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind…_

Stiles had watched that movie so many times, the whole script was engraved into his memory forever. He could practically hear the narrator’s voice.

_As punishment, she transformed him into a hideous beast…_

Stiles thought of Derek, and if it weren’t something that’d probably offend him, he’d make Beauty and the Beast jokes with him. But he wasn't sure if that'd be crossing a line. He didn't really know that much about the curse at all, really. Not even exactly how the spell on Derek had been broken. Derek had always been really vague about the details. Everything had been normal until Peter attacked. But what was it about the attack? It couldn’t have been about killing Peter because Allison did that. He transformed before then anyway, right as he lunged at Peter to save him. So what was it about saving him? The selflessness? Risking his life? Some Care Bears power-of-friendship crap?

_If he could learn to love another... the spell would be broken._

Stiles froze. His jaw went slack and the blood drained from his face as the epiphany hit him like a punch to the gut.

_Love._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always appreciated. :)   
> And sorry again for the ridiculously long delay.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Disneyland fluff!  
> I hope you guys like this chapter. My friend who usually reads my stuff to give me feedback before I post is busy, so hopefully this doesn't suck. lol

Derek could hear his heart pounding and looked over to see what was up.

“Stiles?”

Hearing his own name snapped him out of his thoughts and made him breathe again.

“Are you ok, son?” John asked.

“...Yeah. I just, uh,” he looked around and saw a bathroom next to a nearby cafe, “gotta go.” He made a run for it and burst through the bathroom door.

Naturally, being Disneyland, he wouldn’t get the privacy he seriously wanted, as there were at least eight other dudes in there. The confines of a stall weren’t exactly Stiles’ first choice, but it’d be the only place where he could freak out without people staring at him. Once he was in a stall, he slammed the door shut, leaning against it with both hands, staring at the floor while about a dozen thoughts raced through his mind at once.

_Ok, ok, calm your tits, Stiles. You don’t know he loves you- I mean, what am I basing this idea off of, a movie? No. He can’t love me. That’s ridiculous. He’s older and hot and I’m...not, I’m a high schooler. He doesn’t feel that way about me, it’d be absurd but **fuck** , it’d also make so much sense at the same time. It’s the only theory about his transformation that makes sense. It’d explain why he never goes into details about it, the cuddling, the fact that he stayed, the expensive present, everything. …. Unless I’m just jumping to conclusions. The conclusion I want- wait, do I want it? Do I want him to love me? Sure, he’s hot, but there’s a big difference between recognizing someone’s appearance and actually liking them or loving them. …. But whatever. I can’t stay in here all night trying to figure it out. I have to get my shit together._

Knowing Derek would hear his heart pounding, Stiles began a breathing technique to help his body relax. Inhaling through the nose to the count of four, exhaling through the mouth to the count of five. He repeated this a few times and tried to change what he was thinking about. A moment later, he felt ready and stepped back out, making his way toward the others.   

“You all right?” Melissa asked when he caught up to them.

“Oh, yeah. Just lunch catching up with me, I guess.” he shrugged, hoping that Derek wouldn’t hear his heartbeat jolt as he lied. If he did, he wasn’t saying anything.

When they reached the Jungle Cruise, John and Melissa opted to join the boys on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride instead. When it was time to board the ride, he had the option to sit next to either Derek or his dad. It was only a foot’s difference, but he still chose to put a little distance between himself and Derek by sitting between John and Melissa. The ride was awesome, of course, but Stiles was a little distracted. He kept trying to talk- er, think himself into not stressing over the Derek thing. Even though he had his heartbeat (barely) under control, if he suddenly started avoiding Derek too much, Derek would catch on that something was up. He could over-analyse everything when he got home. Right now, he had to relax and pretend that he wasn’t rethinking their entire relationship.

“All right, the votes are in,” Allison said, looking down at her phone a moment after they got off the Pirates ride. “Everyone agrees to Cafe Orleans.”

Thankfully, everyone was fine with the place that was closest to pretty much everyone, and it wasn’t hard to get a couple of tables when they all arrived. Tables were pulled together and couples sat beside each other, except John and Melissa (as if they were fooling anybody). And Stiles was sat next to Kira, with Derek across from him, with Lydia and Isaac at his side. Sometimes, when a waiter passed by, Derek would not-so-subtley shift his gaze from the waiter back to Stiles with a raised eyebrow.

“I swear to God, Derek…”  

This got a mischievous smile from Derek, but he didn’t reply. Which only made Stiles paranoid. Maybe Derek would’ve done it if they all weren’t in such a hurry to finish eating. It was already 8:20 when they left the restaurant, and no one had even been to the other park yet. Most of them headed straight for the Adventure Park as a group, occasionally stopping for a souvenir. But Stiles and Isaac decided to go on the Haunted Mansion first. For a brief moment, Stiles considered venting about Derek while they were alone, but it just didn’t seem like a good idea. Isaac could keep a secret, of course, but Stiles decided that he didn’t have sufficient evidence and he needed to avoid the whole issue for now.

“So. How’s the new ipod?” Isaac asked him as they walked from the Haunted Mansion toward the Adventure Park.

“It’s so awesome. I might try to find a minister who’ll let me marry it.”

Isaac chuckled. “Does it have a lot of stuff on it already?” Stiles nodded.

“I can’t believe Derek would go all out on a present like that. He’s making the rest of us look bad.” Isaac said.

“Everyone except my dad.” Stiles said, gesturing toward nothing in particular, just the park in general.

“Yeah, seriously. Happy birthday, man.”

Stiles clapped his hand on Isaac’s back and smiled a little wider. “Thanks.”

By the time Stiles and Isaac got to the other park, Scott, Allison, Derek, and Erica had already been on the Tower of Terror. The others were on Grizzly River Run, which is where they (including Stiles and Isaac) wanted to go next. On the way, they passed Boyd, Kira, and Lydia, who were headed for Luigi’s Flying Tires.

“Hey, where’s my dad and Melissa?” Stiles asked them. He’d expected them to be with the others on the river run.

They just gave a collective shrug. “Haven’t seen them since we got here.” Kira said.

~

Melissa twisted her watch back and forth on her wrist. A nervous habit she picked up when she wasn’t wearing long sleeves. She was working up the nerve to talk about what she’d been trying not to obsess over for weeks. Maybe it wasn’t the best time to bring it up; they were on the boardwalk, they were in public and out of their comfort zones, but when the hell was she going to be alone with John again?

“How long are we going to pretend it never happened?” she finally blurted out.

At first John gave her an inquiring look. That’s when she decided that it wasn’t a good time. They were in public, it was Stiles’ birthday, and they would have to be around each other for several more hours which would be pretty awful if the conversation didn’t go well.

“Never mind.” She shook her head, but he continued like he didn’t hear her.

“It was an accident. I didn’t have any intention…”

Melissa nodded, eyes on the ground. “It’s ok. It was just a kiss. Mistakes happen.”

There was a moment of silence between them. “I didn’t say it was a mistake.” John said.

She looked over at him. “What do you mean?” She knew what he meant. She always did. But all the hinting and subtext was driving her crazy. After all these years she needed to just hear the truth without having to decode it first.

“Well… There’s a difference--”

“No, I know that. But that’s too subtle. I’m asking what you really mean.”

It wasn’t an argument by any means, but there was frustration in there voices.

“I… What else do I have to say?” he stopped walking and she turned on her heel to face him as he continued, “That we’re not just close because our sons are? That you’re like a stepmom to Stiles and it’s always felt right? That everything is better when you’re around and I love you?”

Those last words hung in the air for a few minutes which were actually just a few seconds.

“I think you just did.” Melissa said.

John’s jaw was slack as it dawned on him that he just said all that out loud. “Yeah, I did.” he said, taking a couple of quick steps to close the gap between them. She cupped his face in her hands as he kissed her, which earned them a couple of wolf whistles from passersby. This made John bashful, as Melissa found out when they broke apart.

“I love you too.” she smiled, stroking her thumbs over his pink cheeks.

It seemed easier to breathe somehow. Like the tension and everything they'd never said wasn't just a weight on their shoulders but smog that filled their lungs and made their chests heavy. John looked like he was trying not to tear up as he grinned back at her.

“I wish there was someplace around here where we could be alone.” Melissa said.

“Well, I think the closest thing we’re gonna get to privacy around here is that ferris wheel.” John said, pointing across the water.

Melissa looked over at it, then back at John. “Sounds good to me.” she said.

She took his hand and led the way.

~

Fortunately, being around Derek was starting to get easier for Stiles. They wound up sitting across from one another on the River Run, which was a ton of fun, but Stiles couldn’t help but be distracted by Derek’s wet shirt clinging to his body when the ride was over. That would be the second time that day Stiles had stared at Derek’s abs and he really needed to stop before it turned into a habit.

“I’m thinking going on the California Screamin’ will help dry us off.” Allison said, examining her own shirt and probably feeling glad she chose purple over white.

“Good call.” Scott said.

After the California Screamin’ and Luigi’s Flying Tires, they met up with everyone (except John and Melissa) at Rita’s Baja Blenders for some dessert.

“I found your missing parents.” Erica said to Stiles a little while after they sat down with their drinks.

“Where?”

Erica pointed to a table near the Pacific Warf Cafe. The pair were sat at a table and looked like they were deep in conversation. Stiles decided not to interrupt.

“Huh. Well, good to know they didn’t get kidnapped.” he said, turning back to his smoothie.

~

“I just don’t think we should push it, ya know?” John said.

“Exactly. We’ll ease into things, tell the kids….eventually.”

“Yeah, eventually.” John agreed.

“Like, when they go away to college.”

“Right.”

“I mean, I don’t think they’d oppose, but... it could still be awkward for them.” Melissa said.

~

“I ship it.” Lydia said, still watching John and Melissa.

Pretty much everyone nodded their agreement when they got what she was referring to. Stiles, however, was lost in thought. That is, until he looked up to see Derek quickly look away from him like he’d been caught staring. Yet another clue for him to try not to obsess over. He sighed from tiredness and stood up.

“Does anyone else wanna go on the Golden Zephyr? By the pier thing?” he asked.

Kira, Boyd, and Erica, raised their hands. Derek just silently got up and joined them as they headed that direction.

They all managed to get in the same car, Erica and Boyd sitting together in the front, Stiles behind them, and Kira and Derek behind him.

They got off the ride right on time for the World of Color show to start. Derek probably looked at Stiles more than the show. He just loved the way his eyes lit up in amazement. It reminded him of the 4th of July, when he kept watching Stiles watch the fireworks. He happened to be actually watching the show for a minute when he felt Stiles tug on his sleeve. He leaned over so he could hear Stiles better over the other people around.

“I bet this looks even better from up there.” Stiles said, pointing to the ferris wheel.

“You wanna go?” Derek suggested.

Stiles grinned and nodded. He took Derek’s hand and practically dragged him to it like an overly enthusiastic child would.   

“So. Enjoying yourself?” Stiles asked when they were in their seat and they began elevating.

“Honestly, this is probably the most fun I’ve had in over a year.” Derek said.

“Hm.” Stiles nodded, “Yeah, I guess you’ve had an interesting year, huh?”

Derek shrugged. “I would’ve been worse without you.” Derek meant to say ‘it could’ve been worse’ or something like that, but of course he had to blurt things out and there it was. He really wanted to shove his foot into his mouth, but before he could even worry about what Stiles might say, Stiles, without missing a beat, turned it into a joke.

“Oh, I know. I bring joy to everyone around me.” he laughed.

Derek didn’t know what to say. He really wanted to kiss Stiles, but...he just couldn’t. Even if he felt like he had a chance at something with Stiles, he didn’t want to plant one on him on a ferris wheel. If there ever came a day when he just had to kiss Stiles, he wanted Stiles to be able to slap him and run away if he wanted to. Not be trapped with him, a hundred feet off the the ground.

Before Derek could think of something to say, Stiles said “Ooh, look!” and pointed off in the distance, “I think I can see the Tower of Terror.”

“Yup, that’s it.” Derek said. He didn’t even have to squint, given his vision, “And over there is the castle.” he pointed.

Stiles looked at him in disbelief. “Nuh-uh. No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Werewolf abilities or not, you can _not_ see that.”

“Why would I lie?” Derek asked.

“Because… to show off.” Stiles said.

Derek snorted at the weak response.

~

After Derek and Stiles met up with everyone else by the Cars Land sign, they all wandered around for another hour before deciding it was time to go home. By the time they got back to the van, everyone was exhausted. They crawled into their seats, and only talked about the experience for about an hour before most of them were asleep. Melissa drove this time, stopping at a gas station for coffee to keep her alert. Meanwhile, John dozed off in the front seat. Erica laid on top of Boyd in the back, Allison curled up half on Scott’s lap, and Lydia, Kira, and Isaac looked like fallen dominoes. Stiles and Derek were huddled up again, watching Firefly until Stiles fell asleep, his head resting on Derek’s shoulder. Derek didn’t know if something like this would ever happen again, so he took the opportunity to carefully kiss Stiles’ head.

Derek woke up to the sound of the van door opening. They were parked in front of an unfamiliar house and Isaac was getting out, thanking John before closing the door. Derek looked down to see that Stiles was still asleep, but his head was on Derek’s chest now. He was draped over Derek more now than he was a few hours ago, and Derek’s arm had found it’s way around his shoulder. Derek knew he should move, but he was too tired to care that much. He dozed off and on, waking up again every time they stopped at someone’s house. Kira was the next to be dropped off, then Boyd, then Erica, then Lydia. Scott was officially awake by the time they got to Allison’s house. If he noticed the way Stiles and Derek were cuddled up, he didn’t care.

~

When Stiles woke up, there was a heavy, warm arm wrapped around him. He could hear a steady heartbeat against his head. He started awake when he realized what he’d done.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, pulling away from Derek and stretching.

“S’okay.” Derek said, barely awake.

Soon they pulled up to Stiles’ house. John gathered up the soda cans and other trash while saying goodnight to Melissa. Stiles mumbled some thanks and goodnights as hopped out and went inside, and Derek grabbed the cooler and followed. Derek set the cooler on the kitchen counter, then pulled out his wallet and got out the amount his ticket cost plus $20 more. He stuck the cash half under the cooler for John to find. Stiles saw this and smiled from the kitchen doorway.

“Thanks again for the ipod. Today was fun.” Stiles said.

“I’m glad I came.” Derek said with a sleepy half smile. “Happy birthday,” he said in passing as he left.

 

  
Stiles kicked his shoes and pants off, and plopped on the bed, but he couldn’t sleep. Once he started thinking about his theory about Derek, he couldn’t stop. He spent the whole night running through everything in his head and researching spells and love in magic. He only got an hour of sleep before his alarm clock went off, and then the obsessing continued again. He was so caught up in thinking about the clues and trying not to think about his own feelings that Derek didn’t hear from him for days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think we're looking at another 3 chapters, but I'm not sure yet. 
> 
> Questions? Feedback? Confession of your undying love? I'd love to hear. :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluffy fun stuff!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think I died? My motivation to write kinda did. I am SO SORRY. There's really no excuse for why I haven't updated in so long. But if you're still with me, I'm going to try to wrap up this story within the next week or maybe couple of weeks.   
> This chapter is so frickin fluffy omg. You thought the Disneyland chapter was fluffy? Pfft.   
> This chapter got a really good review from my trusty friend/test audience, so hopefully it kinda makes up for all the time I've kept you waiting.   
> I hope you like it!

September 13, 5PM

“Yeah?” Derek answered Stiles’ call.

“My Jeep is busted. Are you busy? No one else can give me a ride.”

“You at the school?” Derek asked.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“My hero.” Stiles said. Derek could somehow hear the look on his face. The way the corner of his mouth was tugged up into a half smile.

Derek hung up, stuck a bookmark in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, and was on his way. Forgetting he was carrying it, he tossed the book into the passenger’s seat when he got in his car.

~

“Lift up the hood.” Derek said when he arrived at the almost entirely empty parking lot.

While Stiles did that, he got a toolbox from his trunk.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. None of my usual tricks are working.” Stiles said.

“Like hitting it until it works?”

Stiles faked laughter, to which Derek smirked as he started examining everything under the hood. Derek was a quiet worker. He didn’t even let Stiles know when he figured out what was wrong. He just did his thing and there wasn’t much Stiles could do but sit in Derek’s car and enjoy the air conditioning. Stiles looked down and saw Mythology in the seat. “I’ve read this.” he said, holding it up.

Derek glanced over. “This is my fifth time reading it.”

“You really like history.”

Derek wasn’t sure if that was a question or not. “Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you study it in college?” Stiles asked.

“Trade school just seemed like the smarter move to me at the time.”

After a while, Derek asked “Could you come here and hold something for a sec?”

Stiles turned off the car and did as Derek instructed. He thought maybe he was holding something in place, but he wasn’t real sure what he was doing because he was too busy being very aware of how in-each-other’s-personal-space they were. Which was particularly awkward considering Stiles had been avoiding him for days. He didn’t really know why, he tried not to think about it, trying to ignore his problems away. But oh no. The Jeep just had to screw up, on this particular day, when he had no one else to call. And now he was squished between his problem and his problematic Jeep.

Watching Derek’s hands work, Stiles followed the smudges of grease from Derek’s hands, all the way up his arms. He even had a little smeared on his forehead from when he wiped away some sweat. His t-shirt was tight around his arms and he was sweating a little, which was kind of distracting.

His biceps are fucking glistening? Seriously? Who even looks like that in real life? When I sweat, I just look...actually, I try not to get sweaty at all. Because it’s gross. Except for this guy, apparently.

Honestly, he looked like he was doing a photoshoot for a calendar. Mr September. Spread out on the hood of a Jeep. Shirt lifted up to draw attention to his abs and the line of hair going into his pants and Stiles needed to stop thinking about it now.

“You can let go.” Derek said, snapping him out of it.

Stiles quickly pulled away. “All fixed?”

Derek put everything back in its place, then got the cloth from his toolbox and started wiping off his hands and arms. “Try starting it.”

Stiles got in and the Jeep started up without any trouble. “Sweet!” he hopped out of the Jeep and went back to Derek. “Thanks for fixing my baby.” Stiles smiled and closed the hood.

“No problem.” Derek said, taking his toolbox back to his own car.

“I’m a little short on cash, so I can’t really pay you. But I’ve got a coupon for ice cream. Wanna get some?” Stiles asked.

Derek’s lip twitched into a small smile. “Sure.”

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride.” Stiles motioned for him to follow.

“You want me to leave my car out in the open?”

Stiles got settled in the driver’s seat. “Dude. In this town, it’s more likely to get keyed by a vampire than stolen. Get in.”

Derek didn’t bother arguing. He was too happy to be hanging out with Stiles again to care very much. That week was the first time in months since they’d gone more than a day or so without talking to each other. Derek had tried not to think anything of it. It’s only been a few days, get over it. But still, he’d missed Stiles.

~

They decided to go through the drive-thru for the ice cream and eat somewhere else. They ended up driving to the edge of town and parking near the woods even though it was getting dark.

“So why were you at school so late?” Derek asked as they stared out at nothing in particular.

“Detention.”

“For what?”

“Using my phone in class.”

Derek scoffed. “That’s enough to warrant detention?”

“Well, I’m a repeat offender. I’ve been doing research until my eyes bleed because… I don’t even know why. None of us can figure out what this thing is.”

“This the same thing everyone was talking about on your birthday?”

“Yup. We have basically nothing. Just unknown scents, and one symbol on one tree that is now missing.”

”The symbol or the tree?” Derek asked.

“The symbol, we think. Boyd tried to take us to it, he thought maybe he just forgot which tree it was on, but we couldn’t find it anywhere. It just... poof, gone.”

“Did he try drawing it?”

“Yeah, but still no luck.” Stiles reached into his pocket, and handed a piece of paper to Derek. Derek unfolded it and found that the symbol was familiar, but he couldn’t identify it either.

“Looks familiar. Maybe it’s in one of my family’s books. We can stop by my place later so you can borrow them.” Derek said.

“Thanks, man.” Stiles took the paper back and continued eating. Derek inwardly chuckled when he saw Stiles’ face scrunch up with a brain freeze.

They sat in an oddly comfortable silence for a while. Stiles normally didn’t do silence. But this was nice. Relaxing. There was a moment when he glanced over and it seemed like Derek looked away, like he’d been caught staring. Which reminded Stiles of his problem, making the silence become a bit uncomfortable for him. Time for a distraction.

“So what’s your favorite part of that book?”

Derek thought it over for a minute. “I like Artemis.”

Stiles nodded. “I wanted a Pegasus when I was little.”

“Me too.” Derek said with one of this small almost-smiles. “My dad used to read those stories to me. Sometimes he’d make up stories about my favorite characters.”

“Sounds like a cool guy.”

“Yeah.”

Stiles knew it was kind of a big deal for Derek to talk about his family. He felt like he should return the favor. “My, uh, my mom read Peter Pan to me. …I remember this one day, we used my lightsabers as swords and pretended to be pirates.”

“Sounds like a good mom.” Derek said. Stiles hummed his agreement.

It got quiet again for a long time after that. The roof was down and they were both looking up at the sky. Stiles didn’t know enough about astronomy to know exactly what he was looking at, but it was pretty.

“Derek?” It was almost a whisper.

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad Allison hit you with her car.”

Derek couldn’t help but chuckle, and when Stiles realized how that sounded, he laughed too. Totally ruining the moment. But not quite in a bad way. Stiles glanced at the clock, which now said 7:25, and started up the Jeep and turned up the radio.

               _When we live such fragile lives_

_It's the best way we survive_

_I go around a time or two_

_Just to waste my time with you_

“We’ll get your car, then I’ll follow you to your place for those books, right?”

“Right.” Derek nodded.

~

Stiles stopped the Jeep in the school parking lot and Derek got out, thankful that he wouldn’t have to endure the Katy Perry song that just started. When he reached his car, Stiles rolled down his window.

“And you were worried.” he teased.

“You don’t know what it’s like to have a car someone would want to steal.” He was in his car before Stiles could make a comeback, so Stiles settled for flipping him off.

When they got to Derek’s loft, Stiles just waited in the doorway while Derek got the books.

“You should hire a decorator. Get some plants in here or something.” Stiles said as he looked around the place.

“I’ll keep that in mind next time I go to Bed, Bath & Beyond.”

“Snarky tonight, aren’t we?”

Derek smirked, then brought the books over to him. “I’m glad too.” He said as he handed them over.

“What?”

“That Allison ran over me.”

Stiles smiled and Derek heard his heart thump just a little bit louder.

“I, um, I should...go.” Stiles said, trying to look away from Derek’s eyes, which for some reason seemed really difficult, “Dad’s making lasagna.”

“Tell him I said hi.” Derek said as Stiles showed himself out.

Stiles nodded. “Night.”

~

“Son, I don’t think the lasagna is going to run away.” John said when he noticed how fast Stiles was eating.

“Gotta lotta reading to do.” Stiles said around a huge mouthful.

About two minutes later, Stiles was done and took his stuff to the sink. He came back to his dad and said “You got someone on your cheek there,” he touched his own cheek to show John where the very obvious lipstick mark was. As soon as John realized what it was, he quickly started wiping at it and stammered out a thank you as Stiles walked off. Stiles knew whose lipstick it was, but he wasn’t going to bring it up until his dad did.

Once upstairs, he flopped onto his bed. He laid on his belly, flipping through Derek’s books, looking for the symbol to hopefully save some time. But no such luck. He went back to the book that seemed the most promising, or at least the most interesting, and started actually reading. He had his earbuds in, and when he got tired of one playlist, he started scrolling through his ipod to find another. He eventually tapped “Derek’s Recs”. He was too focused on the book to pay attention to many of the songs, but about halfway through the playlist, one beat got his attention. He opted to lay back and try to relax for a while. He wasn’t sure if the next song reminded him of Derek or if it was in his head because of recent events, but either way, he was thinking about Derek. And for some reason, he decided to set the song on repeat and keep thinking, rather than push it all from his mind.

_Sorrow found me when I was young_

_Sorrow waited, sorrow won_

Maybe this Derek problem wasn’t such a problem. Hell, it’s kinda the opposite of a problem. Derek’s smart, good looking, and if you can get him to actually talk to you more more than five seconds, he’s a good person. He’s the kind of person who remembers the music you like, and helps you even when you call out of the blue, and sits in silence with you without it being awkward. Or at least he was like that with Stiles. And if it’s just Stiles, then that’s even better because shit, Stiles liked him. And despite what he always told himself, it wasn’t just his ridiculous body. It was his snarky comments, it was his laugh, it was the way he gave that little girl the stuffed animal, it was how it felt to wake up pressed against him in the van, it was how he somehow fit into everything even though he was so different from the rest of the pack, it was that Stiles felt safer and better when he was around.

Stiles was grinning up at his ceiling and he could feel his heart thumping even with the music still on. He felt like he might burst if he didn’t talk to someone soon, so he grabbed his phone and started typing.

**Stiles:** Have you noticed Derek acting a certain way around me?

 **Scott:** What do you mean?

It took several minutes for Stiles to type out what happened at Disney, his theory and evidence, including the way Derek talked about his family that night. He felt like a fourteen year old for this, but whatever, he needed to talk about it. It felt like forever before he got a reply, but actually, it was only about five minutes.

**Scott:** That makes sense. Can’t say for sure, but maybe you’re right. I know he looks at you a lot and he always tries to stay close to you, especially at Disney. And sometimes I hear his heartbeat change around you.  

 **Scott:** What about you? Do you love him?

 **Stiles:** Idk, too soon to tell. I like him. A lot.

 **Stiles:** I don’t get why he hasn’t made a move though.

 **Scott:** Maybe it’s the age difference? Or he’s trying to give it some time since he’s loved you longer and he was a dog and all that? Or maybe he’s scared of something.

 **Stiles:** What would Derek be afraid of?

 **Scott:** Idk. Either way, I guess he’s leaving it up to you to make a move.

 **Stiles:** Yeah, but how the hell am I supposed to do that?! Me. Stiles, skinny high school geek who’s a 5 on a good day, approach Derek, a 10 on a bad day, 11.5 with his shirt off, who drives a camaro.

 **Scott:** Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re at least a 6.5. :P

 **Stiles:** Ha.ha.

 **Scott:** Besides, if he already likes you, does it matter if he’s “out of your league”?

 **Stiles:** It’s still intimidating though.

 **Scott:** Sorry, man. Let me know if you want a wingman.

 **Stiles** : Thanks. Night, dude.

 **Scott** : Night :)

                      _Don’t leave my hyper heart alone on the water…_

 

Stiles tossed his phone aside and sighed. But there was no point in letting any of this bother him now. He decided to just go with the flow and see what happens. Maybe someday he’d do something about it. But it was not that day.

                        _Cause I don’t wanna get over you._

 

~

That weekend, Derek was summoned to the school parking lot once again. This time by text. Stiles only said it was “important” rather than an emergency, so Derek figured it wasn’t the Jeep acting up. He thought it might have something to do with the vanishing symbol. So naturally, he was very confused when he drove into a parking lot crowded with cars, people, and tables. After parking in the general area Stiles told him they could meet up, Derek scanned the crowd for familiar faces.

“Oh, good, you left the leather jacket at home.” Stiles said, approaching him from the opposite direction Derek had been looking in.

“What’s going on?”

“Charity event.” Stiles pointed to a large sign nearby that said the fundraiser was for a children’s hospital.

“Yes, I noticed. Why am I here?”

“Right, follow me.”

Stiles led him passed some booths selling food and to a mostly empty area, save for some buckets, hoses, sponges, and teens. Boyd, and Jackson were standing around in swimtrunks and tank tops.

“You did not volunteer me for this.” Derek said, sounding annoyed.

“Isaac called in sick at the last minute and I thought ‘Hey, you know who’s good with cars and would love to do something for a good cause?” Stiles placed his hand between Derek’s shoulder blades, “My dear, kind-hearted friend, Derek’.”

“I repair cars, I don’t wash them.”

“Well, then this experience will add to your skill set.”

“Stiles…”

“Hey, Derek. Glad you could make it.” Melissa said, delivering some soap and extra sponges. Derek couldn’t bring himself to tell her he wouldn’t be staying, so he decided to just go with it. Besides, it was his day off and he didn’t have plans. And, you know, charity.

“Ya know, it might get a little uncomfortable washing cars in jeans.” she said.   
“Oh, uuuh, I’ve got something in my car.”

“Ah, ok. Well, I should get back to the dunk tank. Thanks for coming to help out.” Melissa said, patting his shoulder as she left.

Stiles was smiling smugly at him as he walked off to get clothes from his gym bag in the trunk. The guys are working on their first car of the day when Derek returns in basketball shorts and a tank. Erica whistled from her booth, which was about as close to the carwash as any of the booths could get.

“There’s really no one else you could get to do this? Where’s Scott?” Derek asked.

“He’s making cotton candy. Now get to work, Hale.” Stiles said, chucking a soapy sponge that Derek caught right as it hit his stomach.

Surprisingly, it was all business for the first few cars that came along. But that ended when Stiles sprayed Derek’s chest with a hose. Stiles shrugged off Derek’s glare. “Just trying to get the donators feeling generous.”

Moments later, while working on the next car, Stiles bent over to clean the hubcaps and Derek saw an opportunity. The cold slap of water against his butt made Stiles jolt up. He turned around to see Derek with a hose and a tight-lipped, slightly evil smile. When Stiles refilled a bucket with clean water, he decided to add lots of soap. He gathered up some bubbles in his palm and gave Derek a nice beard in passing. Stiles cackled as Derek spit out the bubbles that wound up in his mouth. Derek threw a sponge at Stiles, Stiles and Derek each picked up a hose, and a battle ensued. In those moments, Derek felt like a teenager again. He hadn’t felt this way in years. The only time that came close was that day in June when he ran around the yard with Stiles after getting his leg brace taken off. Maybe Stiles’ youth was contagious. They were completely caught up in the moment until Jackson’s voice brought them back to Earth. “Stop flirting before the principal comes over here.”

They stopped spraying each other and looked over to see the principal glaring holes into their heads from a distance. Derek cleared his throat and moved to the opposite side of the car to work on the back seat windows. He looked up to see Stiles looking back, hair dripping wet, a small smile on his face.

“Good. I thought I’d puke if you two started m--” Jackson was interrupted by Derek spraying him in the face. Derek didn’t bother checking out the look on Jackson’s face, but Stiles’ chuckle was enough to make him smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already working on the next chapter and since I'm kinda on a role today, I'm hoping to get it posted either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry again!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should just shut the fuck up. Ok, so no more promises about when I'm going to update. I always manage to break those promises and I feel awful for it. So no more of that. I will only make you guys one more promise: I will not abandon this fic. I will finish it. And I intend to finish it before we all have grandchildren. Thank you guys so much for baring with me and not complaining in the comments.

October 17, 8:40PM

Stiles impatiently knocked on the door four times. About two seconds later, he was about to try again when the door swung open.

“Stiles...”

“You said we needed to talk.” Stiles said.

“I thought you’d just call, but ok.” Derek said, standing aside for Stiles.

Stiles entered and looked around the loft. It looked different since the last time he was there almost a month ago. He’d hung out with Derek plenty in that time, but never in the loft. This time there were a couple of plants by the window. And a bowl with a betta fish inside on a shelf. Derek appeared in front of him and said. “I remembered something. It’s about the symbol.”

“Dude, seriously?”

Derek nodded. “Well what is it?”

“I saw it on a pendant, the one the witch who cursed me was wearing.”

“So- so what does it mean? Is it a coven logo or something to ward off spirits or what?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s probably for protection of some kind, yeah.”

“Yeah. Ok, sure. Got a new lead, I’ll start research again tomorrow.” Stiles said, rubbing the back of his neck.   

“You seem disappointed.” Derek crossed his arms.

“No, no, it’s great. The best lead we’ve gotten so far. The only lead, actually. Just...you’re right, I should’ve just called.” Stiles said, staring at the betta fish because he really didn’t want to look Derek in the eye while thinking about why he came over. About what he almost hoped Derek might have to say.

“So why didn’t you?”

“Oh, I just thought I’d get some food while out. Y’know, kill two birds.”  A small skip in his heartbeat. “...Anyway, I should head out.” Stiles said, going back toward the door.

“Actually,” Stiles stopped, “I’m pretty sure there’s books about witches in the Hale vault. And I’ve got food--”

“Are you trying to bribe me into doing probably multiple hours of research with you when I have essays to write?” Stiles asked.  

“I’m making quesadillas.”

“Sold. I’ll meet you in the Camaro.” Stiles said, walking out the door.

~

 

Slouching in the passenger’s seat, Stiles was flipping through the books from the vault, trying to get a head start despite the darkness in the car. Derek thumped the steering wheel and cursed under his breath.

“What?”

“I’m missing a couple of ingredients for the quesadillas. We have to make a stop.”

A couple of blocks later, Derek pulled into a store parking lot. Derek got out while Stiles continued reading, but a few seconds later, Stiles could still feel Derek’s presence outside. He looked out the window to see him staring at him impatiently.

“What?”  
Derek opened the door. “Stiles, after all we’ve been through, I still don’t trust you alone with my car.”

Stiles rolled his eyes as he got out, “Fine.”

Moments later, a semi-discontented Derek was pushing Stiles in a cart, wondering how the hell Stiles even managed to fold those gangly legs into such a cramped space. However Stiles, texting away, seemed much more comfortable with the situation than Derek. When Derek got the first item, green pepper, he wasn’t sure where to put it with Stiles taking up the whole cart. He opted to set it on Stiles’ leg. Then came the salsa, paper towels, and some other things Derek thought of as they went.

“So what’s your fish’s name?” Stiles asked at one point, not looking up from Tetris.

“Uh...I don’t know. Never named him.”

Stiles furrowed his brows, “How long have you had him?”

“Couple weeks.” Derek shrugged, he was standing in front of the cart, checking the date on some bread.

“A couple of weeks? And you never bothered naming him?!”

“Is that a big deal? It’s a fish, he’s not gonna have an identity crisis.”

“You don’t know what’s going on in his fish brain. He could be so sad right now for all you know.”

Derek grabbed Stiles’ phone, not taking it away, just keeping Stiles from seeing the screen. He leaned down into Stiles’ space maybe a little more than he initially intended to. “Have you told the pack about the new lead?”

“No, Scott told me not to text him tonight, he’s with Allison.”

“That, like the fish, is not as important as this.” He turned around and began pulling the cart toward the checkout.

“There’s nothing to say anyway.” Stiles said, starting a new game, “Kinda like your fish’s name.”

Derek rolled his eyes. At the register, Derek looked up from his wallet on time to see a package of M&M’s get scanned and bagged. He looked to Stiles, who just flashed a smile.

Back at the loft, Derek went straight to the kitchen to start cooking. “I’ve got this, go ahead and start.” he said. Stiles picked a book and started walking around aimlessly as he read. Several minutes of pacing led him to wandering into the kitchen. He glanced up and the sight of Derek in front of the stove made Stiles feel...something. He’d never seen Derek look so domestic. It was weird. But kind of a good weird. On an impulse, he grabbed his phone and took a picture. Derek heard the click and looked up.

“What was that?”

“Uh, just taking a pic of something on this page.” Stiles said, holding up his open book.

Two and a half hours later, the two were on the couch, hunched over a coffee table full of books, files, and empty plates.  They’d read about all kinds of protection symbols. Symbols that protect against dark spirits, demons, monsters, curses, but no symbol they’d seen yet matched what Boyd had found. Derek reached over and snatched a few M&M’s from the pile by Stiles.

“Hey!”

“I paid for them.” Derek said before popping a couple into his mouth.

Stiles sighed and ran his hands through his hair. He looked over to watch the fish for a while just for the sake of looking at something other than words. After a long moment he said “Jaws.”

“What?” Derek asked, still reading.

“Your fish. Name him Jaws.”

“No. Get back to work.”

“Sir, yes, sir.” Stiles picked up his book again. They fell back into a comfortable silence for a while until Stiles thumped Derek’s arm and exclaimed “Oh! This is it!” Derek dropped his book and leaned over to read what Stiles found. It was a perfect match for Boyd’s sketch. The page said that the symbol was commonly used in- and likely invented in- the seventeenth century to protect witches from witch hunters. Derek remembered threatening to turn the witch who cursed him over to hunters if she didn’t help him. A wave of guilt washed over him.

“So. Hunters.” Stiles’ words brought Derek back to the present.

“Yeah, looks like.” Derek sighed. It was past midnight and they were tired and Stiles’ dad was calling.

“Dad. Hi.” Stiles answered, eyes suddenly wide as he realized his mistake. He stood up and wandered into the kitchen, so Derek could only hear Stiles’ half of the conversation.  “Researching with Derek. ...Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. ...He offered me quesadillas, what was I supposed to do? Say no? ...Ri- yeah, sorry. ...Yeah, twenty minutes, see ya then.” He hung up. “I gotta go.” he said when he returned.

“Yup.” Derek stood and followed Stiles to  the door. “I think it could be about Peter.” Derek said.

“Really?”

“He killed hunters. Made it known that it was him. Now that the killings have stopped, hunters are probably coming to investigate.”

“Makes sense.” Stiles said, “So if a witch knows more about the situation than we do, we should find them. Maybe start at the spot where Boyd found the symbol?”

“Yeah. How’s tomorrow?”

“Fine for me. I’ll tell Scott in the morning, text you when to meet up. Finn. That’d be a good name for a fish.”

“Out.”

“Later.” Stiles waved behind himself.

“Yeah. And Stiles?”

Stiles stopped in the doorway and turned around.

“Delete that picture of me.” Derek said with a smile (leave it to Derek Hale to make a smile look like a threat). He closed the door before Stiles could even pretend not to know what he was talking about.

A half an hour later, Derek’s phone chimed a couple of times.

 **Stiles:** Flipper.

 **Stiles:** Nemo.

 **Stiles:** Sharkbait.

 **Derek:** Goodnight, Stilinski.

~

 

The next day, not everyone in the pack was ready to investigate until 3:30. It was a later start than Derek wanted, but still, it was better than waiting around another day. And the next day being a Monday meant that they wouldn’t be available any earlier for another week anyway. They all stood around in a circle, near the spot where Boyd found the symbol on a tree. Scott was reviewing the plan.

“So we’re all on the group text. If anyone sees anything, we text or take a picture or video or whatever and let the rest of us know right away. Since it’s taken us so long to figure out this much, the hunters are probably already here, so no one split up from their buddy. Under any circumstances.”

Scott’s buddy was Boyd. Kira was with Allison, Erica with Isaac, and Stiles with Derek.

“And I think that’s it.” Scott concluded. Everyone nodded and hummed their agreement, then set off into the woods, in all directions.

Periodically, Stiles and Derek’s phones would ding with a new picture of the symbol painted or carved onto a tree. One picture from Kira showed a candle on the ground by a tree with the symbol. Erica sent a picture of an abandoned- and seemingly trashed- campsite.

“Well, I’m pretty sure we picked the worst possible direction to go, because I haven’t seen anything.” Stiles said at around 5:00.

“Yeah.” Derek said, “It seems like most of what’s been found has been found East. Let’s head that way.”

They changed direction and continued in silence for a bit. But not for long because Stiles was feeling chatty. He’d try to start a conversation about basically everything that crossed his mind.

“So do you think the witch who’s been doing this is the same one who cursed you?”

“I don’t know. I hope not.” Derek said.

“Yeah, that’d be pretty awkward, seeing her again.”

“Yes, Stiles, pretty awkward. Are you focusing?”

“Yes, Sourwolf, I am. I can look and talk at the same time.” Stiles elbowed his arm and moved ahead to check out a big tree. Derek knew he should pay closer attention and look faster, but he kept getting distracted. He kept looking over at Stiles and the next thing he knew, he was at the same huge tree as Stiles, but he wasn’t looking at the tree at all. Just touching the bark, as if holding onto the tree was keeping him from floating away, and staring as Stiles, who didn’t even seem to notice. It was that time of day when the sunlight was golden and the way it hit Stiles’ skin and made his eyes shimmer was just too much for Derek to process anything else. Except maybe Stiles’ voice.

“Derek?”

“Huh?” Derek snapped back into focus.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.” he said, looking back at the tree as if he’d been working all along.

“Really? Cause it looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something.”

“It’s nothing.” Derek moved to another tree, and Stiles followed. The longer they went on searching, the more Derek obsessed over what to do. Simultaneously trying to talk himself into and out of opening up to Stiles. _He’s not a minor anymore. But he’s still in high school. Not for long though. It’s still too soon. Telling him could ruin everything. But it could also make things so much better._

“It just seems like you shouldn’t be keeping stuff from me. We’re kind of in the middle of a potentially dangerous situation, so if you’ve got something to share--”

Derek was officially flustered now. He sighed, “Will you shut up?” he said as he stomped toward Stiles, backing him against a tree, and kissing him hard. It was brief and forceful and Stiles didn’t have time to get a breath in before Derek kissed him again. Gentle this time. Slow. Stiles was still gripping the tree behind him, but his tension melted and he opened up to the kiss. If the first kiss was to make Stiles stop talking, the second one was to tell Stiles everything.

_I love you._

_I love you._

_I love you._

When they stopped for air, everything was quiet. Except for their heartbeats. Those were like bass drums to Derek’s ears. Derek had his forehead pressed to Stiles’, eyes closed, brow furrowed. _Idiot_ , he scolded himself.

“Stiles…” it came out as a breathy whisper.

“I know.”

When that clicked, Derek opened his eyes and backed away. “You what?”

Stiles didn’t understand why Derek looked hurt. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d seen Derek look like that before. But before he could say anything, his phone rang. Boyd.

“Hey, what’s up?”

Boyd was hard to understand due to panic and heavy breathing, but Stiles and Derek both caught “Scott” and “gone”.

“What?” The blood drained from Stiles’ face.

“They took him. I don’t know who or- or how many.”

“Are you ok? Where are you?”

“I think…” it went quiet for a second, “I’m near the park. I can hear the wind pushing swings.” “All right, we’ll be right there.” Stiles hung up. “Someone took Scott.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok this is kinda off-topic, but for some reason I keep getting fic ideas involving dog!Derek or wolf!Derek. What is my obsession with this? lol   
> Speaking of fic ideas, I'm eager to start working on new fics, so like I said before, I'll try to get this one wrapped up soon so we can move on. You can expect either one more chapter and an "epilogue" or two more chapters, idk yet. And then it'll be time for my other fics that I'm excited about. ^_^


	11. Updates, Apologies, etc

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't part of the fic. I just wanted to say something.

Ok. I'm finally working on the fic again. According to Google Drive, I haven't touched the fic since March. But I've thought about it lots of times since then.

Every time I think about it I feel guilty. Everyone in the comments has been so sweet and given it good reviews. You've all said how you want to know what happens next, and what am I doing? Not writing what happens next, that's what. 

The reason why I haven't updated is mostly embarrassment. I see so many flaws and mistakes. I see ooc things and plot holes and it makes me feel like the fic is no good. Which makes me want to not even look at it, let alone continue making it. 

But you guys seem to like it. And I feel like you deserve to get the ending. I know how much I hate it when I find an incomplete fic. 

And besides. I don't _hate_ it. I still like the idea and some of what I've written. I just....feel like it could've been way better.

Anyway. I finally feel like I can continue writing it. So I intend to give you updates very soon.

I don't want to drag this out very long though. I'm thinking around 3 more chapters, and they may not be long. But I'll do my best. 

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again for being so nice about things. :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand we're back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thanks so much to all of you who have been so patient and said such nice things about this fic. :)

Because searching for clues was a somewhat slow process that involved walking around more than walking forward, it didn’t take very long for Stiles and Derek to reach Boyd even though they’d been out there for nearly two hours. Stiles was never a runner. Not in the slightest. But Scott was in trouble so he was running even faster than Derek. When they found Boyd, Stiles latched onto his arm and used him for support, barely able to stand.

“What. happened.” Stiles gasped between breaths.

“I only left him a minute, but someone knocked me out. I heard them shoot Scott, then they took him.” Boyd said.

“Wh- that makes no sense, you should’ve been able to smell them, right?”

"I know but..."

“They would’ve been wearing something to mask their scent.” Derek said.

Just then, the rest of the pack arrived. And in Erica’s grip was the witch that Derek hadn’t seen in over a year.

“We found her setting up a shrine or whatever by a tree.” Erica said, giving the witch Elaina a bit of a shove forward into the circle of wolves. Her eyes went wide when she saw Derek and he hardly looked any better. Stiles looked between them and put two and two together. Derek slowly stepped toward her and Stiles braced himself for he didn’t even know what. But Derek just quietly exhaled and said in a very controlled voice “Tell us everything you know about them. Now.”

Elaina looked around at the pack and then let the words spill out of her. “They killed most of my coven. I’ve been out of town for more than a year, but I came back to find someone, hoping they weren’t dead. I was right, but I knew they’d show up here, so I started trying to protect the town. Candles, prayer, spells, but none of it worked apparently. So I need to get my friend and get the hell out of here.” She tried to walk away, but Derek stopped her.

“That’s all I know.” she protested, trying to push past him.

“But we’re not done here.” Derek said. Her eyes grew wide again. “Come with us, we may need your magic.”

“How could she help us? Her magic wasn’t even good enough to keep them away from here.” Kira said.

“I’m sure her magic is stronger than you give her credit for.” Derek said. And it was true, Derek of course knew that she could cast a good spell. But more than just wanting the extra help, he couldn’t let her get away. He wasn’t sure what he’d say or do, but he just couldn’t.

“We should start following Scott’s scent while it’s still fresh.” Isaac said.

“Yes, but we need a plan. It’s pretty obvious it’s a trap. Otherwise, why leave Boyd? They want us to follow them.” Allison said.

“Well, we don’t have a choice.” Stiles snapped, “So let’s go. Wolves follow the scent, humans head for the Jeep and we’ll catch up.” He took Elaina by the arm and lead the way. The pack looked from Stiles to each other, some shrugged, and then did as he said.

~

However many minutes later- maybe five, maybe a thousand, Stiles couldn’t tell the difference- the Jeep was following running werewolves down the streets on the outer edge of Beacon Hills. The scent led them down an old two lane highway that was never busy, and then down a dirt road. Allison didn’t say a word to Stiles. He was wound up so tight, she thought he might explode if she said anything. Elaina was silent because, well this whole thing was just awkward and terrifying for her.

The wolves and Jeep slowed down. From outside Isaac asked “How can we even smell him this well all the way out here?” His question was directed at Derek, but Derek’s mind was elsewhere.

“Well, if they have chemicals to mask their scent, they probably have something to make one potent- something to lure us to the bait.” Kira answered. Derek eventually nodded his agreement.

Finally, they reached an abandoned building- some kind of butcher shop. A windowless white van (how cliche) was parked outside. Boyd yanked open the sliding door and Isaac opened the front door, but it was completely empty. The scent was stronger than ever, drawing them to the building

Stiles hopped out of his Jeep and started toward the door.

“Wait.” Derek said. Everyone gathered around and  listened to Derek’s plan. They all paired up so that every human had a wolf buddy and then surrounded the building to go in from every side. Unless that van could somehow hold over a dozen people, there was no way everyone could get ambushed. Stiles was with Erica, Allison with Boyd, Elaina with Derek, and Isaac was with Kira. Three pairs made their way to the sides and back of the building, ducking below windows as they went. Stiles and Erica took the front entrance. Loudly, too. Stiles had lost all patience and readily helped Erica force their way through the rusty old door. And making a loud entrance wasn’t a bad idea, actually. The noise would briefly divert the attention of anyone inside  away from the other pairs sneaking inside.

The building was mostly empty, putting Scott in clear view. He was bleeding out on the floor with nobody near him. Somewhere along the way they must have knocked him unconscious.  Once Stiles’ eyes landed on Scott, that was it. He ran to Scott with tunnel vision and no hesitation. He was aware of shooting, the sounds of werewolves fighting, and he would later remember Erica scolding him for being such a dumbass. But in that moment all that registered in his mind was that he needed to _**stop the bleeding**_.

At some point Stiles heard Elaina shouting about her lost coven, followed by ancient words and a bright flash that made everything go quiet. But Stiles hardly payed attention. He just kept on holding Scott and doing what little he could for him. He mumbled things- to Scott, to himself, to God, and he hardly noticed the fight was over until Scott was being pulled away from him.

Allison helped Stiles to his feet while Boyd carried Scott to the Jeep. They somehow managed to all squish inside (and just hoped they didn’t get pulled over) and sped to Deaton’s office. Kira called Deaton to tell him they were coming and Stiles’ eyes went wide. “Did someone get a bullet? We need one for-”

“Yes," Derek said, "I got one.”

Stiles nodded and let out a deep breath. He tried to take steady breaths and convince himself that it would be ok. They were almost to Deaton’s, and Scott was strong enough to make it there.

_We're almost there_

_Almost there_

_Scott is strong and he needs me to be strong too_

_We're almost there._

__

After a moment, Stiles asked where Elaina was. Derek’s grip on the steering wheel tightened.

“She disappeared with the rest of them.” Erica said, “When she made that flash happen, they were gone-” she snapped “like that.”

 

Finally they pulled in at Deaton’s office and everyone scrambled to get Scott inside. Derek followed Deaton into the operating room, and the others had to block Stiles from going with them.

“But Scott--” Stiles protested, trying to get passed them.

“Scott will be ok. You need to take it easy.” Allison said. There were dried tears at the edges of her eyes that Stiles only just noticed. She gently took Stiles’ hand and held it until he let her guide him to a chair.

Everything would have been completely quiet and still if it weren't for Stiles constantly bouncing his leg and fidgeting. After what seemed like forever, Derek and Deaton came back out.

“He’s going to be ok." Deaton confirmed, "He’s still unconscious, but I’m sure he’ll wake up soon. He’ll need rest, of course, but he can go home tonight.”

There was a collective sigh of relief and tension instantly died down. Everyone soon began discussing other things. Mostly theories about what happened to Elaina and the hunters. Stiles sat in the chair and stared at the floor, lost in thought. Derek stood in a corner and tried not to stare at Stiles while trying to come up with something to say to him. It was too soon to talk about the kiss but the topic would come up at some point. He wanted to do something but every idea seemed wrong. A hug would be weird. Nothing he could think to say would come out right. He almost wished he were a dog again so he could just walk up to him and rest his head on Stiles' leg in that way dogs do when their human is sad. Though that's not something he would ever admit to.

Derek missed his chance to say something. Stiles stood up and went into the other room to be with Scott. He stood by Scott’s side and eventually held his hand. Who knows how long he stood there, thinking and looking at nothing in particular until he felt Scott’s thumb move.

“Hey.” Scott said with a small smile and a scratchy voice.

Stiles threw himself into hugging him. “Hey buddy.” he finally choked out when he felt Scott’s arms around him.

The pack must’ve heard their voices because seconds later they were each filing into the room.

All but Derek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one was so short. The next/last chapter(s) should be a bit longer. Not very long, but longer than this I'm sure.  
> I'm also sorry for plot holes and stuff like that. I didn't spend, like, any time planning before I started writing/publishing this fic, and this part of the story is where that really shows. My only defense is that the story isn't about the hunters and junk anyway, it's about the ship. But still. Not my best work.   
> I hope yall enjoyed it though.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, bitch.   
> Betcha thought you'd seen the last of me.

October 28, 5:00 PM

 

Stiles was sitting at the edge of his bed, staring out the window when his phone buzzed. 

 

**Lydia:** You still coming to the party?

 

She was being extra friendly. As hard as Stiles tried to hide it, everyone knew something was bugging him. But up till this point, with Lydia it was business as usual. Someone must’ve told her what Stiles was upset about…

 

_ Scott. _

 

Nine days before, Stiles was playing video games at Scott’s place. He’d been waiting to spill his guts until he knew Scott was back to normal. Whether that was the case or not, he had to spill when Scott demanded answers. 

 

_ “You’re being way too quiet, dude, what’s eating you?” _

 

_ It’s true, Stiles had barely said anything once they pressed play. And he was playing slowly. His character was barely jogging, he wasn’t shooting. He didn’t seem to even notice that he was getting shot, like, a lot. Scott paused the game after calling Stiles on it.  _

 

_ Stiles took a moment to stare at the tv. He exhaled to help the sentence get passed his lips. “I think I hurt him.” _

 

_ “Who? Derek?” _

 

_ Stiles nodded, looking to the floor now. “I’m not sure how. ...He kissed me. And all I said was ‘I know’.” _

 

_ Scott scrunched his eyebrows. “That...makes no sense.” _

 

_ “Well it did to him apparently. And apparently it was the wrong thing to say. -I mean, obviously it was the wrong thing to say, but I don’t get why he looked so…” _

 

_ They were quiet for a minute as the sentence hung in the air.  _

 

_ “So...what are you gonna do? You gotta talk to him.” _

 

_ “Do I?” Stiles scoffed. It wasn’t directed at Scott, and he wasn’t being sarcastic. He just really wanted there to be some alternative to looking Derek in the eye ever again. He bit at his thumb nail. He sighed. “I do. ...I just don’t know how.”  _

 

_ “That’s a first.” Scott quipped. It took Stiles a minute to come back to Earth and realize what Scott was saying and he promptly smacked his arm. “Dickbutt.” _

 

_ Scott laughed and it was so good to see those dimples. He was so glad Scott was still there. That Scott would be there even if Derek wasn’t. _

 

Stiles picked up his phone. 

 

**Stiles:** I’m not dead!

**Stiles:** Don’t forget the Doritos.

 

Lydia replied with a photo of the no-less-than 11 bags of Doritos she’d bought for the party. 

 

Stiles would talk to Derek after the party, he thought. Or maybe after graduation. Yeah. He’d get to it eventually. 

  
  


~

  
  


October 31, 6:00 PM

 

**Lydia:** Ready for tonight?

**Scott:** Yeah. See ya then.

  
  


7:20 PM

 

The house was already filling up with people. Practically everyone from school (and plenty of more) was there. At least half the crowd was in costume. Some silly, some scary, some sexy. And then there were those who didn’t come in costume. The rule was: come in a costume or wear a mask. Some people brought their own masks, but Lydia had a bunch to give out. 

Scott, Stiles, Kira, and Isaac had been there a while already, helping Lydia set things up. Allison would be coming later and Erica and Boyd were out seeing a movie. 

At about 7:30, Lydia and Scott nodded to each other from across the room. 

 

“Hey, I’ll be right back, ok?” Scott said to Stiles. 

 

“Cool beans.” Stiles said, bobbing his head to the music. He figured Scott had spotted Allison.

 

Scott left the room and Lydia went back to being a host. 

 

~

 

**_Thump thump thump_ **

 

Derek jolted. He’d been spaced out for who knows how long. As soon as he snapped out of it, he knew who was at the door. He wasn’t sure if it was a relief or a disappointment that it wasn’t Stiles. He swung the door open. 

 

“What?”

 

“I know.” Scott immediately cringed, realizing his poor choice of words. 

 

“ _What?_ ”

 

“Stiles told me what happened.”

 

“I’m sure he did.” Derek said, looking at nothing in particular on the other side of the door. 

 

“You need to talk to him.”

 

“Maybe you should leave that between Stiles and I.” Derek was defensive. One wrong word from Scott and he would shut everyone out. Scott was silent for a moment as he very carefully chose his words. 

 

“I promise you this isn’t as bad as you think it is. And I promise you that it can be fixed. You have a perfect opportunity to fix it. If you want to take it, follow me.” And he walked away. 

 

Derek stood in the doorway a moment, thinking. Every stubborn bone in his body told him not to move. But he knew he had to make it right. His heart was leaping at the chance to fix things with Stiles. 

He grabbed his jacket and followed Scott.

Once Scott saw that Derek was coming, he doubled back.

 

“Actually, there’s something we need to do first. Do you have a suit?”

 

“No.”

 

“Ok, then.” Scott spun on his heel and they walked out of the building without missing a beat.

 

~

 

Once the Jeep (which Scott had borrowed to go to Derek’s) was parked near Lydia’s house, Scott led Derek to a side door. He texted Lydia “we’re here” and just as they reached the door, Lydia opened it. Derek remembered the party from what he overheard Lydia saying at Disney. He figured Stiles must be inside, but he wasn’t sure what made this a “perfect opportunity”. 

 

“Hurry, upstairs. He’s in the other room stuffing his face.” Lydia said, ushering them in.

 

“He’s all yours.” Scott said, departing toward the dining room. 

 

“Go, go.” Lydia said from behind Derek on the stairs. 

 

Once they were at the top of the stairs, Lydia took the lead and directed Derek into her room. She closed the door behind him. 

 

“Well, I was hoping for something a bit dressier than a leather jacket and v-neck, but I guess it’s not a problem. Still, party rules are party rules and I can’t let you go down there like this.” She said. 

 

“What are you talking about?” Derek said, eyebrows a bit more furrowed than usual.

 

“Everyone is wearing either a costume or a masquerade mask. I figured you’d opt for the mask, so I’ve been reserving some special ones for you to choose from.” Lydia said, grabbing a basket of masks from her dresser. 

 

“That’s not necessary.” Derek started for the door. Lydia stopped him with a hand on his arm. 

 

“If you go down there… Don’t you want it to be romantic? Put some effort into it.” 

 

“Put some effort into it? I’m not the one who needs to apologize.”

 

“Neither is he! He doesn’t understand what he did wrong! Maybe you two wouldn’t be so butthurt if you learned how to communicate.”

 

After a beat, he stepped back, ready to do whatever he needed to. 

 

~

 

“Hey, bro, where were you? I saw Allison and she said she hasn’t seen you.” Stiles said when Scott found him by the drinks. 

 

“I... had to take some dinner to my mom.” Scott was a bad liar, but Stiles didn’t seem to notice this time. He was having a good time. Scott hoped he wasn’t about to ruin it. 

 

~

 

Derek was glaring at his own reflection in Lydia’s full-body mirror. He was wearing a gaudy gold mask with a flower design etched into it. 

 

Lydia stood behind him, unsure of what to say. “You look so…”

 

“Stupid.” 

 

“Yeah, maybe one that’s not so...that.” Lydia reached into the basket and pulled out the next mask. 

 

~

 

Scott looked to the staircase for probably the fourth time in the last three minutes. Luckily Stiles was too busy talking to Kira to notice how suspicious he was. Finally, Scott saw Lydia appear at the stairs, giving him a thumbs-up. 

 

“Hey, let’s head outside.I could use some fresh air.” Scott said.

 

“Sure.” Stiles said just before taking a sip from his can of orange soda. 

 

The three of them moved out by the pool and continued their conversation for a moment before Lydia appeared at the doorway. “Ok, everyone come inside for the costume contest! Even those without costumes, I need voters!” 

 

Everyone outside filed into the house, with Scott, Kira, and Stiles at the back. Once Kira and Scott were through the doorway, Scott started closing the doors Stiles.

 

“See ya later, buddy.”

 

“Do what?”

 

Scott locked the door and pulled the curtains shut. 

 

“Scott, what the heck?!”

 

He paced around by the pool until he heard the gate open. Derek stepped out of the shadows, wearing a silver mask that only covered the top half of his face. It had a simple design around the edges. Somehow it suited him. Between the mask and his squared shoulders and his posture, he looked almost regal. Even if he was just wearing jeans and his leather jacket. Stiles felt so silly in his red mask and fake tux t-shirt. 

 

Stiles finally scooped his jaw off the ground and decided he needed to say something, anything. “Great party, huh. Though we’re missing the contest.” 

 

“I don’t care about the contest.” 

 

“Oh. Well. The sexy cat costumes always win anyway.”

 

“You knew.” 

 

Stiles looked at the ground and swallowed. “....Yeah.”

 

“For how long?” Derek’s voice was softer than expected. Not soft. But not as harsh as Stiles was expecting.

 

“Disney.” Stiles said, still unable to look Derek in the eyes.

 

They stood there in silence. There was a party raging just a few feet away, but it seemed like they were miles away from it all. Stiles realized that Derek was standing much closer to him now. 

 

“I said the wrong thing the other day. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it how it sounded.”

 

“It’s ok.” 

 

“No, not yet. Because I still don’t understand why it was the wrong thing to say.”

 

After a moment, Derek sighed. “I thought.... I thought that if you’ve known this whole time, without saying anything, that you must not…”

 

Stiles snapped his head up to look at Derek. Derek looked back. 

 

“Well that’s a dumb assumption to make.” Stiles said. Derek glared. “Don’t give me that look. Are you really so full of angst that you just assume that I couldn’t love you back?” 

 

Now it was Derek staring at the ground. “You can’t just assume that shit about people,” Stiles continued, “...So let’s try that again.”

 

Derek looked up in surprise. They just stared at each other for a minute, eyes locked as Derek stepped toward him. 

 

Softly, quietly, Derek said to him “Stiles,” Stiles shivered, “I love you.”

 

“Well it’s your lucky day, I love you too--” 

He barely finished the sentence before Derek’s lips were on his. Quick but gentle. Hands cupping Stiles’ jaw. Stiles pressed himself closer and slid his hands up Derek’s shoulders so he could put his hands in his hair and pull his head  _closer_ . He _needed to be closer._

 

After a moment, all the noise from the party was becoming an interruption. They broke apart for air. “Can we get out of here?” Stiles asked. 

Derek nodded. “Let’s go.” He took Stiles’ hand and they left through the gate Derek had entered through. 

 

~

 

First they went through a drive through. Their party masks resting on the dashboard.

“Celebratory ice cream is a must.” Stiles narrated. Derek was just rolling with it. He was too happy to question it. 

 

Then, ice cream cones in hand, Derek gave directions until they got to the park. There they walked and ate their ice cream. It was dark and they were the only ones there. Not a drug dealer in sight even. Stiles was the first to finish his and Derek was taking   _f o r e v e r_ to finish his. Finally, Stiles couldn’t stand it anymore. He snatched the cone away, threw his arms over Derek’s shoulders and kissed him. Derek put his hands on Stiles’ waist. The touch made Stiles drop the cone. Derek started pull away when he heard the splat on the ground behind him, but Stiles touched jaw and pulled him back to the kiss.

 

“Wanna go make out on the swings?” Stiles asked, waggling his eyebrows only somewhat cartoonishly. 

 

“I’m not sure how that would work.” Derek said, maybe smiling just a little. 

 

“Neither do I, let’s try it out.” Stiles grabbed his hand and led the way.

 

In the end, they mostly twirled. Sometimes Stiles would try to see how high he could go, but they mostly twirled. Stiles decided to take advantage of these scowl-free moments with Derek and took some pictures on his phone. He only got one or two before Derek went back to his usual self and confiscated the phone. While Stiles tried to get it back, Derek kissed him and took a picture of them. 

“Here, no more.” He said, tossing the phone back to Stiles.

 

Stiles looked at the picture and smiled. “So is this our first date?”

 

“If you want it to be.” Derek said, a small smile on his face.

 

“Cool.” Stiles said, putting the phone back in his pocket. “Wanna go watch movies at your place?”

 

"Sure, why not.” Derek said, standing up.

 

~

 

November 1, 2:03 AM

 

The sounds of a particularly obnoxious infomercial pulled Stiles back to consciousness. His cheek was smooshed up against Derek’s arm and he was pretty sure he’d drooled on him. He only stretched one arm so not to wake his date. Still half-asleep, he blankly stared at the infomercial, which seemed to think that screaming and seizure-inducing editing would make people buy appliances. The last thing Stiles remembered was he and Derek watching some old Western, and before that a ‘50s B movie about- what else- aliens. If the network was playing an infomercial, it must be pretty late. 

 

_...Oh no. _

 

Stiles jolted up and turned his head so quick his neck popped. With no clock in sight, he dug his phone out of his pocket. 

 

2:05 AM

2 missed calls from Dad.

 

“Fuck!” Stiles jumped off the couch. 

 

Derek was stretching and trying to wake up. “What is it?”

 

“Past curfew.” Stile said, putting on his shoes.

 

Derek’s eyes snapped open and he looked at his own phone. “ _ Shit. _ I knew I shouldn’t’ve let you stay for a second movie.” Derek stood up and followed Stiles to the door.

“Wait.” He touched Stiles’ hand, stopping him from closing the door behind him. When Stiles turned around, Derek pulled him close for a kiss. “G’night.” He said.

 

“Night. I’ll see you later, if dad doesn’t kill me first.” Stiles said with nervous laughter. He dashed off, looking behind him to wave before Derek closed the door. 

 

~

 

When Stiles got home, he opted to go in through the front door instead of trying to sneak in through the window. As predicted, John was sitting in his chair, coffee in hand, waiting for him.

 

“Heyyyy, dad.”

 

“You know what time it is?”

 

Stiles shifted his gaze to the floor. “Yeah.”

 

“Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

 

“I was asleep. Plus it was on silent. I’m sorry.” 

 

John was quiet for a moment. “All things considered, I’m glad you’re ok. ...But where were you? Scott’s?”

 

Stiles shook his head. “Nah, I fell asleep watching movies with...Derek.” He really hoped his cheeks weren’t turning pink.

 

John raised an eyebrow. “Derek?”

 

Stiles smiled and just as quickly forced himself to  _ not  _ smile like an idiot in love. “Yeah.”

 

John went quiet again, staring at his mug. “K, then. Night, son.”

 

Stiles looked up at John, who was taking a drink of his coffee. Stiles quickly moved toward his room, briefly stopping to pat his dad’s shoulder. “Night, pops.” Then he went upstairs.

  
John stayed there for a few minutes, a small smile budding at the corner of his lips.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you spot the Beauty & The Beast joke in this one? I can't lie, I've been planning to make that [terrible] joke since chapter one. lolz
> 
> Anyway, I think the next chapter will be the end and I hope you guys enjoy it. :)   
> Thank you so much to everyone who has left nice comments and been so ridiculously patient!


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